INDIAN UNION India is a Union of 28 States and seven centrally administered Union Territories. Constitution The country attained freedom on 15 August 1947. The Constitution of the Republic came into effect on 26 January 1950. The Constitution provides for single and uniform citizenship for the whole nation and confers the right to vote on every person who is a citizen of India and 18 years of age or older. Fundamental Rights The Fundamental Rights of every Indian citizen include the freedom of speech, expression, belief, assembly and association, migration, and choice of occupation or trade. These rights also protect every Indian from discrimination on grounds of race, religion, creed or sex, and are enforceable in courts of law. GOVERNMENT The Legislature: India has a parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise. The executive authority is responsible to the elected representatives of the people in the Parliament for all its decisions and actions. Sovereignty rests ultimately with the people. The Parliament is bi-cameral. Rajya Sabha (Council of States): The Council of States consists of not more than 250 members, of whom 12 are nominated by the President of India and the rest elected. It is not subject to dissolution, one-third of its members retiring at the end of every second year. The elections to the Council are indirect. The allotted quota of representatives of each State are elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of that State, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The nominated members are persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service. The Rajya Sabha is presided over by the Vice- President of India. Lok Sabha (House of the People): The House of the People consists of 545 members. Of these, 530 are directly elected from the 25 States and 13
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INDIAN UNION
India is a Union of 28 States and seven centrally administered Union Territories.
Constitution
The country attained freedom on 15 August 1947. The Constitution of the Republic came into effect on 26 January 1950.
The Constitution provides for single and uniform citizenship for the whole nation and confers the right to vote on every person who is a citizen of India and 18 years of age or older.
Fundamental Rights
The Fundamental Rights of every Indian citizen include the freedom of speech, expression, belief, assembly and association, migration, and choice of occupation or trade. These rights also protect every Indian from discrimination on grounds of race, religion, creed or sex, and are enforceable in courts of law.
GOVERNMENT
The Legislature:
India has a parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise. The executive authority is responsible to the elected representatives of the people in the Parliament for all its decisions and actions. Sovereignty rests ultimately with the people. The Parliament is bi-cameral.
Rajya Sabha (Council of States): The Council of States consists of not more than 250 members, of whom 12 are nominated by the President of India and the rest elected. It is not subject to dissolution, one-third of its members retiring at the end of every second year. The elections to the Council are indirect. The allotted quota of representatives of each State are elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of that State, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The nominated members are persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service. The Rajya Sabha is presided over by the Vice- President of India.
Lok Sabha (House of the People): The House of the People consists of 545 members. Of these, 530 are directly elected from the 25 States and 13 from the seven Union Territories. Two members are nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community.
Unless dissolved sooner, the term of the House is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. The Lok Sabha elects its own presiding officer, the Speaker.
The Executive: The President of India is the Head of the State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He is elected by an electoral college composed of members of both the Houses of Parliament (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) and the legislatures of the nationþs constituent States. The President holds office for five years and can be re-elected.
The President does not normally exercise any constitutional powers on his own initiative. These are exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, which is responsible to the elected Parliament.
The Vice-President is elected jointly by the members of both the Houses of Parliament. The person enjoying majority support in the Lok Sabha is appointed Prime Minister by the President. The President then appoints other ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister can remain in office only as long as he or she enjoys majority support in the Parliament.
the The Judiciary: The judiciary is independent of the executive. It is the guardian and interpreter of Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal, positioned at the apex of a single unified system for the whole country. Each State has its own High Court. A uniform code of civil and criminal laws applies to the whole country.
The States: The States have their own Legislative Assemblies and in certain cases a second Chamber. All members of the Legislative Assemblies are elected by universal adult franchise. The Head of the States are called Governors. Appointed by the President, they normally exercise the same powers in the States as the President does at the Union government level. As in the Central Government, each State has a Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister responsible to the elected State Legislature.
Election Commission: The electoral machinery is centralised in an independent statutory body called the Election Commission. The Commission is responsible for the 'superintendence, direction and control' of the electoral rolls for all elections to Parliament and to the State Legislatures and also for conducting the elections.
The culture of India has been shaped not only by its long history, unique geography and diverse demography, but also by its ancient heritages, which were formed during the Indus Valley Civilization and evolved further during the Vedic age, rise and decline of Buddhism, the Golden age, invasions from Central Asia, European colonization and the rise of Indian nationalism.
The languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and its customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of diverse sub-cultures spread all over the country and traditions that are several millennia old.
A Kathakali performer as Krishna. One the eight major Indian classical dances, Kathakali is more than 1,500 years old and its theme is heavily influenced by the Puranas.[1]
The culture of India has been shaped not only by its long history, unique geography and diverse demography, but also by its ancient heritages, which were formed during the Indus Valley Civilization and evolved further during the Vedic age, rise and decline of Buddhism, the Golden age, invasions from Central Asia, European colonization and the rise of Indian nationalism.
The languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and its customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of diverse sub-cultures spread all over the country and traditions that are several millennia old.
Close-up of a statue depicting Maitreya at the Thikse Monastery in Ladakh, India. India is the birthplace of Dharmic religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.[2]
Main articles: Religion in India and Indian religions
India is the birth place of Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.[3] Dharmic religions, also known as Indian religions, are a major form of world religions next to the Abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions respectively, with around 1.4 billion followers altogether.
India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion still plays a central and definitive role in the life of most of its people.
The religion of 80% of the people is Hinduism. Islam is practiced by around 13% of all Indians.[4] Sikhism, Jainism and especially Buddhism are influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnostics also have visible influence along with a self-ascribed tolerance to other people.
[edit] Society
[edit] Overview
According to Eugene M. Makar, traditional Indian culture is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. He also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in society.[5] This is reinforced by the fact that many believe gods and
spirits have an integral and functional role in determining their life.[5] Several differences such as religion divide the culture.[5] However, a far more powerful division is the traditional Hindu bifurcation into non-polluting and polluting occupations.[5] Strict social taboos have governed these groups for thousands of years.[5] In recent years, particularly in cities, some of these lines have blurred and sometimes even disappeared.[5] The Nuclear family is becoming central to Indian culture. Important family relations extend as far as gotra, the mainly patrilinear lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth.[5] In rural areas & sometimes in urban areas as well, it is common that three or four generations of the family live under the same roof.[5] The patriarch often resolves family issues.[5]
Among developing countries, India has low levels of occupational and geographic mobility. People choose same occupations as their parents and rarely move geographically in the country.[6] During the nationalist movement, pretentious behaviour was something to be avoided. Egalitarian behaviour and social service were promoted while nonessential spending was disliked and spending money for ‘showing off’ was deemed a vice. This image continues in politics with many politicians wearing simple looking / traditionally rural clothes, such as the traditional 'kurta -pyjama' and the 'Gandhi topi'.
[edit] Family
Main articles: Hindu joint family, Arranged marriage in India, and Women in India
A bride during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding ceremony.
Family plays a big role in the Indian culture. India for ages has had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It’s a system under which even extended members of a family like one’s parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. live together. The elder-most, usually the male member is the head in the joint Indian family system who makes all important decisions and rules, whereas other family members abide by it.
Arranged marriages have the tradition in Indian society for centuries. Even today, overwhelming majority of Indians have their marriages planned by their parents and other respected family-members, with the consent of the bride and groom.[7] Arranged matches were made after taking into account factors such as age, height, personal values and tastes, the backgrounds of their families (wealth, social standing) and their castes and the astrological compatibility of the couples' horoscopes.
In India, the marriage is thought to be for life[8], and the divorce rate is extremely low — 1.1% compared with about 50% in the United States.[9] The arranged marriages generally have a much lower divorce rate. The divorce rates have risen significantly in recent years:
"Opinion is divided over what the phenomenon means: for traditionalists the rising numbers portend the breakdown of society while, for some modernists, they speak of a healthy new empowerment for women."[10]
Although child marriage was outlawed in 1860, it is continued to be practiced in some rural parts of India.[11] According to UNICEF’s “State of the World’s Children-2009” report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas.[12] The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India.[13]
Indian names are based on a variety of systems and naming conventions, which vary from region to region. Names are also influenced by religion and caste and may come from religion or epics. India's population speaks a wide variety of languages.
Although women and men are equal before the law and the trend toward gender equality has been noticeable, women and men still occupy distinct functions in Indian society.Woman's role in the society is often to perform household works and pro bono community work[5]. This low rate of participation has ideological and historical reasons. Women and women's issues appear only 7-14% of the time in news programs.[5] In most Indian families, women do not own any property in their own names, and do not get a share of parental property.[14] Due to weak enforcement of laws protecting them, women continue to have little access to land and property.[15] In many families, especially rural ones, the girls and women face nutritional discrimination within the family, and are anaemic and malnourished.[14] They still lag behind men in terms of income and job status. Traditional Hindu art, such as Rangoli (or Kolam), is very popular among Indian women. Popular and influential woman's magazines include Femina, Grihshobha and Woman's Era', 'Savvy.
Cows depicted in the decorated goppuram of the Kapaleeshwarar temple in ChennaiSee also: Wildlife of India, Animal husbandry in India, and Cattle in religion
The varied and rich wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region's popular culture. Common name for wilderness in India is Jungle which was adopted by the British colonialists to the English language. The word has been also made famous in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. India's wildlife has been the subject of numerous other tales and fables such as the Panchatantra and the Jataka tales.[16]
In Hinduism, the cow is regarded as a symbol of ahimsa (non-violence), mother goddess and bringer of good fortune and wealth.[17] For this reason, cows are revered in Hindu culture and feeding a cow is that is seen as an act of worship.[18]
[edit] Namaste
Namaste, Namaskar or Namaskaram or Vannakam is a common spoken greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent. Namaskar is considered a slightly more formal version than namaste but both express deep respect. It is commonly used in India and Nepal by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, and many continue to use this outside the Indian subcontinent. In Indian and Nepali culture, the word is spoken at the beginning of written or verbal communication. However, the same hands folded gesture is made usually wordlessly upon departure. In yoga, namaste is said to mean "The light in me honors the light in you," as spoken by both the yoga instructor and yoga students.
Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". The word is derived from Sanskrit (namas): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and respect and (te): "to you".
When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, in front of the chest. The gesture can also be performed wordlessly or calling on another god E.g.: "Jai shri Krishna" and carry the same meaning.
Dipawali, a festival of lights, is celebrated by Hindus across India by lighting diyas and making rangolis.
[edit] Festivals
Main article: Festivals in India
India, being a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, celebrates holidays and festivals of various religions. The three national holidays in India, the Independence Day, the Republic Day and the Gandhi Jayanti, are celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm across India. In addition, many states and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics. Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Navratri Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga puja, Holi, Rakshabandhan and Dussehra. Several harvest festivals, such as Sankranthi, Pongal and Onam,"Nuakhai" are also fairly popular. Certain festivals in India are celebrated by multiple religions. Notable examples include Diwali which celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains and Buddh Purnima which is celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus. Islamic festivals, such Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and Ramadan, are celebrated by Muslims across India. Adding colors to the culture of India, the Dree Festival is one of the tribal festivals of India celebrated by the Apatanis of the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh, which is the easternmost state of this country.
The multiple families of Indian cuisine are characterized by their sophisticated and subtle use of many spices and herbs. Each family of this cuisine is characterized by a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. Though a significant portion of Indian food is vegetarian, many traditional Indian dishes also include chicken, goat, lamb, fish, and other meats.
Food is an important part of Indian culture, playing a role in everyday life as well as in festivals. Indian cuisine varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically diverse subcontinent. Generally, Indian cuisine can be split into five categories: North, South, East,West Indian and North-eastern India.
Despite this diversity, some unifying threads emerge. Varied uses of spices are an integral part of food preparation, and are used to enhance the flavor of a dish and create unique flavors and aromas. Cuisine across India has also been influenced by various cultural groups that entered India throughout history, such as the Persians, Mughals, and European colonists. Though the tandoor originated in Central Asia, Indian tandoori dishes, such as chicken tikka made with Indian ingredients, enjoy widespread popularity.[19]
Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe.[20] Historically, Indian spices and herbs were one of the most sought after trade commodities. The spice trade between India and Europe led to the rise and dominance of Arab traders to such an extent that European explorers, such as Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus, set out to find new trade routes with India leading to the Age of Discovery.[21] The popularity of curry, which originated in India, across Asia has often led to the dish being labeled as the "pan-Asian" dish.[22]
A girl from Tripura sports a bindi while preparing to take part in a traditional dance festival.
Traditional Indian clothing for women are the saris and also Ghaghra Cholis (Lehengas). For men, traditional clothes are the Dhoti/pancha/veshti or Kurta. Delhi is considered to be India's fashion capital, housing the annual Fashion weeks. In some village parts of India, traditional clothing mostly will be worn. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Pune are all places for people who like to shop. In southern India the men wear long, white sheets of cloth called dhoti in English and in Tamil. Over the dhoti, men wear shirts, t-shirts, or anything else. Women wear a sari, a long sheet of colourful cloth with patterns. This is draped over a simple or fancy blouse. This is worn by young ladies and woman. Little girls wear a pavada. A pavada is a long skirt worn under a blouse. Both are often gaily patterned. Bindi is part of the women's make-up. Traditionally, the red bindi (or sindhur) was worn only by the married Hindu women, but now it has become a part of women's fashion. A bindi is also worn by some as their third eye. It sees what the others eyes can't and protect your brain from the outside and the sun.[23] Indo-western clothing is the fusion of Western and Subcontinental fashion. Churidar, Dupatta, Gamchha, Kurta, Mundum Neriyathum, Sherwani, uttariya are among
Rabindranath Tagore, Asia's first Nobel laureate.[24]
The earliest works of Indian literature were orally transmitted[citation needed]. Tamil literature begins with the sangam literature a collection of sacred hymns dating to the period 10000BC–1200 BCE[citation needed] . The Tamil epics tolkappiyam and thirukural appeared towards the end of the first millennium BCE[citation needed]. Classical Tamil literature succeeded well in the first few centuries of the first millennium CE[citation needed] .
In the medieval period, literature in Kannada and Telugu appears in the 9th and 10th and 11th centuries respectively,[25] followed by the first Malayalam works in the 12th century. During this time, literature in the Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, and various dialects of Hindi, and Urdu began to appear as well.
Some of the most important authors from India are Rabindranath Tagore, Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Subramania Barathi Kuvempu, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Munshi Premchand, Muhammad Iqbal, Devaki Nandan Khatri became well known. In contemporary India, among the writers who have received critical acclaim are: Girish Karnad, Agyeya, Nirmal Verma, Kamleshwar, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, Indira Goswami, Mahasweta Devi, Amrita Pritam, Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar, Qurratulain Hyder and Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and others have received critical acclaim.
In contemporary Indian literature, there are two major literary awards; these are the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship and the Jnanpith Award. Seven Jnanpith awards each have been awarded in Kannada, six in Hindi, five in Bengali, four in Malayalam, three each in and Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu and Oriya.[26]
Illustration of the Battle of Kurukshetra. With more than 74,000 verses, long prose passages, and about 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is one of the longest epic poems in the world.
India has strong traditions of poetry ever since the Rigveda, as well as prose compositions. Poetry is often closely related to musical traditions, and much of poetry can be attributed to religious movements. Writers and philosophers were often also skilled poets. In modern times, poetry has served as an important non-violent tool of nationalism during the Indian freedom movement. A famous modern example of this tradition can be found in such figures as Rabindranath Tagore, Kuvempu and K. S. Narasimhaswamy in modern times and poets such as Basava (vachanas) , Kabir and Purandaradasa (padas and devaranamas) in medieval times, as well as the epics of ancient times. Two examples of poetry from Tagore's Gitanjali serve as the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh.
[edit] Epics
The Ramayana and Mahabharata are the oldest preserved and still well-known epics of India; some of their versions have been adopted as the epics of Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In addition, there are five epics in the classical Tamil language are Silappadhikaram, Manimegalai, Civaka Cintamani, Valaiyapathi, Kundalakesi.
Other regional variations of them as well as unrelated epics include the Tamil Kamba Ramayanam, in Kannada, the Pampa Bharata by Adikavi Pampa, Torave Ramayana by Kumara Valmiki and Karnata Bharata Katha Manjari by Kumaravyasa, Hindi Ramacharitamanasa, Malayalam Adhyathmaramayanam.
Panchavadyam temple music in Kerala.Main article: Music of India
The music of India includes multiples varieties of religious, folk, popular, pop, and classical music. The oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the Samaveda that are still sung in certain Vedic Śrauta sacrifices. India's classical music tradition is heavily influenced by Hindu texts. It includes two distinct styles: Carnatic and Hindustani music. It is noted for the use of several Raga, melodic modes. it has a history spanning millennia and it was developed over several eras. It remains instrumental to the religious inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment.
Purandaradasa is considered the "father of carnatic music" (Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha).[27][28][29] He concluded his songs with a salutation to Lord Purandara Vittala and is believed to have composed as many as 475,000[30] songs in the Kannada language. However, only about 1000 are known today.[27][31]
Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of Jharkhand and Orissa, the ghoomar of Rajasthan, the dandiya and garba of Gujarat, the Yakshagana of Karnataka and lavani of Maharashtra and Dekhnni of Goa. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of the state of Orissa and the sattriya of Assam.[32][33]
Kalarippayattu or Kalari for short is considered one of the world's oldest martial arts. It is preserved in texts such as the Mallapurana. Kalari and other later formed martial arts have been assumed by some to have traveled to China, like Buddhism, and eventually developing into Kung-fu. Other later martial arts are Gatka, Pehlwani and Malla-yuddha. There have been many great prout
[edit] Drama and theater
Natyacarya Mani Madhava Chakyar as Ravana in Bhasa's Abhiṣeka Nataka Kutiyattam - one of the oldest surviving drama tradition of the world.Main article: Theatre in India
Indian drama and theater has a long history alongside its music and dance. Kalidasa's plays like Shakuntala and Meghadoota are some of the older plays, following those of Bhasa. One of the oldest surviving theatre tradition of the world is the 2000 year old Kutiyattam of Kerala. It strictly follows the Natya Shastra [34] . The natak of Bhasa are very popular in this art form. Nātyāchārya (late) Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār- the unrivaled maestro of this art form and Abhinaya, revived the age old drama tradition from extinction. He was known for mastery of Rasa Abhinaya. He started to perform the Kalidasa plays like Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra; Bhasa's Swapnavāsavadatta and Pancharātra; Harsha's Nagananda in Kutiyattam form[35][36]
The tradition of folk theater is popular in most linguistic regions of India. In addition, there is a rich tradition of puppet theater in rural India, going back to at least the second century BCE. (It is mentioned in Patanjali's commentary on Panini). Group Theater is also thriving in the cities, initiated by the likes of Gubbi Veeranna,[37] Utpal Dutt, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, K. V. Subbanna and still maintained by groups like Nandikar, Ninasam and Prithvi Theatre.
[edit] Visual artsMain article: Indian art
[edit] Painting
Main article: Indian painting
The Jataka tales from Ajanta Caves.
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the petroglyphs as found in places like Bhimbetka, some of which go back to the Stone Age. Ancient texts outline theories of darragh and anecdotal accounts suggesting that it was common for households to paint their doorways or indoor rooms where guests resided.
Cave paintings from Ajanta, Bagh, Ellora and Sittanavasal and temple paintings testify to a love of naturalism. Most early and medieval art in India is Hindu, Buddhist or Jain. A freshly made coloured flour design (Rangoli) is still a common sight outside the doorstep of many (mostly South Indian) Indian homes. Raja Ravi Varma is one the classical painters from medieval India.
Madhubani painting, Mysore painting, Rajput painting, Tanjore painting, Mughal painting are some notable Genres of Indian Art; while Nandalal Bose, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Geeta Vadhera, Jamini Roy and B.Venkatappa[38] are some modern painters. Among the present day artists, Atul Dodiya, Bose Krishnamacnahri, Devajyoti Ray and Shibu Natesan represent a new era of Indian art where global art shows direct amalgamation with Indian classical styles. These recent artists have acquired international recognition. Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Mysore Palace has on display a few good Indian paintings.
Hindu sculptures at the famous Khajuraho temple in Madhya Pradesh.
The first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley civilization, where stone and bronze figures have been discovered. Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism developed further, India produced some extremely intricate bronzes as well as temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one at Ellora were not constructed by using blocks but carved out of solid rock.
Sculptures produced in the northwest, in stucco, schist, or clay, display a very strong blend of Indian and Classical Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman influence. The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved almost simultaneously. During the Gupta period (4th to 6th century) sculpture reached a very high standard in execution and delicacy in modeling. These styles and others elsewhere in India evolved leading to classical Indian art that contributed to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Southeast Central and East Asia.
[edit] Architecture
Main article: Indian architecture
The Umaid Bhawan Palace in Rajasthan, one of the largest private residences in the world.[39]
Indian architecture encompasses a multitude of expressions over space and time, constantly absorbing new ideas. The result is an evolving range of architectural
production that nonetheless retains a certain amount of continuity across history. Some of its earliest production are found in the Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BCE) which is characterised by well planned cities and houses. Religion and kingship do not seem to have played an important role in the planning and layout of these towns.
During the period of the Maurya and Gupta empires and their successors, several Buddhist architectural complexes, such as the caves of Ajanta and Ellora and the monumental Sanchi Stupa were built. Later on, South India produced several Hindu temples like Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura, Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur, the Sun Temple, Konark, Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, and the Buddha stupa (Chinna Lanja dibba and Vikramarka kota dibba) at Bhattiprolu. Angkor Wat, Borobudur and other Buddhist and Hindu temples indicate strong Indian influence on South East Asian architecture, as they are built in styles almost identical to traditional Indian religious buildings.
Akshardham in Delhi the largest Hindu temple in the world.
The traditional system of Vaastu Shastra serves as India's version of Feng Shui, influencing town planning, architecture, and ergonomics. It is unclear which system is older, but they contain certain similarities. Feng Shui is more commonly used throughout the world. Though Vastu is conceptually similar to Feng Shui in that it also tries to harmonize the flow of energy, (also called life-force or Prana in Sanskrit and Chi/Ki in Chinese/Japanese), through the house, it differs in the details, such as the exact directions in which various objects, rooms, materials, etc. are to be placed.
With the advent of Islamic influence from the west, Indian architecture was adapted to allow the traditions of the new religion. Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, Gol Gumbaz, Qutub Minar, Red Fort of Delhi are creations of this era, and are often used as the stereotypical symbols of India. The colonial rule of the British Empire saw the development of Indo-Saracenic style, and mixing of several other styles, such as European Gothic. The Victoria Memorial or the Victoria Terminus are notable examples.
Indian architecture has influenced eastern and southeastern Asia, due to the spread of Buddhism. A number of Indian architectural features such as the temple mound or stupa, temple spire or sikhara, temple tower or pagoda and temple gate or torana, have become famous symbols of Asian culture, used extensively in East Asia and South East Asia. The
central spire is also sometimes called a vimanam. The southern temple gate, or gopuram is noted for its intricacy and majesty.
Contemporary Indian architecture is more cosmopolitan. Cities are extremely compact and densely populated. Mumbai's Nariman Point is famous for its Art Deco buildings. Recent creations such as the Lotus Temple, and the various modern urban developments of India like Chandigarh, are notable.
[edit] Recreation and sportsMain article: Sports in IndiaSee also: kabaddi and Indian chess
The annual snake boat race is performed during Onam Celebrations on the Pamba River at Aranmula near Pathanamthitta.
In the area of recreation and sports India had evolved a number of games. The modern eastern martial arts originated as ancient games and martial arts in India, and it is believed by some that these games were transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further adapted and modernized. Traditional indigenous sports include kabaddi and gilli-danda, which are played in most parts of the country.
A few games introduced during the British Raj have grown quite popular in India: field hockey, football (soccer) and especially cricket. Although field hockey is India's official national sport, cricket is by far the most popular sport not only in India, but the entire subcontinent, thriving recreationally and professionally. Cricket has even been used recently as a forum for diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan. The two nations' cricket teams face off annually and such contests are quite impassioned on both sides. Polo is also popular.
Indoor and outdoor games like Chess, Snakes and Ladders, Playing cards, Carrom, Badminton are popular. Chess was invented in India.
Games of strength and speed flourished in India. In ancient India stones were used for weights, marbles, and dice. Ancient Indians competed in chariot racing, archery, horsemanship, military tactics, wrestling, weight lifting, hunting, swimming and running races.
Main article: Television in IndiaSee also: List of Indian television stations
Indian television started off in 1959 in New Delhi with tests for educational telecasts.[40] Indian small screen programming started off in the mid 1970s. At that time there was only one national channel Doordarshan, which was government owned. 1982 saw revolution in TV programming in India, with the New Delhi Asian games, India saw the colour version of TV, that year. The Ramayana and Mahabharat were some among the popular television series produced. By the late 1980s more and more people started to own television sets. Though there was a single channel, television programming had reached saturation. Hence the government opened up another channel which had part national programming and part regional. This channel was known as DD 2 later DD Metro. Both channels were broadcasted terrestrially.
In 1991, the government liberated its markets, opening them up to cable television. Since then, there has been a spurt in the number of channels available. Today, Indian silver screen is a huge industry by itself, and has thousands of programmes in all the states of India. The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of their own kind some even attaining national fame for themselves. TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives as well as working women, and even men of all kinds. Some small time actors have made it big in Bollywood. Indian TV now has many of the same channels as Western TV, including stations such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and MTV India.
[edit] Cinema
Main article: Cinema of India
Shooting of a Bollywood dance number.
Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based film industry in India. Bollywood and the other major cinematic hubs (in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Punjabi and Telugu) constitute the broader Indian film industry, whose output is considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced and number of tickets sold.
India has produced many critically acclaimed cinema-makers like K.Vishwanath, Bapu ,Jagdaman Grewal, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Guru Dutt, K. Vishwanath, Adoor
Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli, Shekhar Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Shankar Nag, Girish Karnad, G. V. Iyer,etc. (See Indian film directors). With the opening up of the economy in the recent years and consequent exposure to world cinema, audience tastes have been changing. In addition, multiplexes have mushroomed in most cities, changing the revenue patterns.
[edit] See alsoIndia portal
South Asian ethnic groups Etiquette of Indian dining Lists of Indians by state Indian religions
[edit] References1. ̂ Jacobs, Susan. Yoga Journal, Nov-Dec 1985. Active Interest Media, Inc.. 2. ̂ Outsourcing to India By Mark Kobayashi-Hillary 3. ̂ Finding Lost - By Nikki Stafford 4. ̂ "Religions Muslim" (PDF). Registrat General and Census Commissioner, India.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Eugene M. Makar (2007). An American's Guide to Doing Business in India.
6. ̂ Kaivan Munshi and Mark Rosenzweig (2005). "Why is Mobility in India so Low? Social Insurance, Inequality, and Growth". http://www.econ.yale.edu/seminars/labor/lap05-06/Rosenzweig091605.pdf.
7. ̂ http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050215/life/life1.html Love vs arranged marriages, Keisha Shakespeare
8. ̂ http://www.thepost.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=154&fArticleId=2613258 9. ̂ http://www.divorcerate.org/divorce-rate-in-india.html Divorce Rate In India 10. ̂ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/1499679/Divorce-soars-
in-India's-middle-class.html Divorce soars in India's middle class 11. ̂ BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Child marriages targeted in India 12. ̂ http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09_Table_9.pdf 13. ̂ http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/18/stories/2009011855981100.htm 14. ^ a b Kalyani Menon-Sen, A. K. Shiva Kumar (2001). "Women in India: How
Free? How Equal?". United Nations. http://www.un.org.in/wii.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
15. ̂ Carol S. Coonrod (June 1998). "Chronic Hunger and the Status of Women in India". http://www.thp.org/reports/indiawom.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
16. ̂ Symbolism in Indian culture 17. ̂ South Asian folklore - By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills 18. ̂ Nature's web - By Peter H. Marshall 19. ̂ "Tandoori Village Restaurant Brisbane". AsiaRooms.com.
Narasimhacharya, R (1988) [1988]. History of Kannada Literature. New Delhi, Madras: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0303-6.
Rice, B.L. (2001) [1897]. Mysore Gazatteer Compiled for Government-vol 1. New Delhi, Madras: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0977-8.
Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980]. A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 809-5179. OCLC 7796041.
Varma, Pavan K. Being Indian: Inside the Real India. (ISBN 0-434-01391-9) Tully, Mark . No Full Stops in India. (ISBN 0-14-010480-1) Naipaul, V.S . India: A Million Mutinies Now. (ISBN 0-7493-9920-1) Grihault, Nicki. India - Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette.
(ISBN 1-85733-305-5) Manjari Uil, Foreign Influence on Indian Culture (c.600 BC to AD 320), (ISBN
81-88629-60-X)
[edit] External links Indian Govt. Site devoted to preserving manuscripts and making them available Treasure House of India's Art and Culture IndianCultureOnline.com - Indian Culture Photos+Detail Information North India Culture Culture Coverage An Introduction to Indian Culture
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Culture of the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, searchThis article is about the culture of the United States. For customs and way of life, see Society of the United States.
The development of the Culture of the United States of America has been marked by a tension between two strong sources of inspiration: European ideals, especially British; and domestic originality.
American culture encompasses traditions, ideals, customs, beliefs, values, arts, and innovations developed both domestically and imported via colonization and immigration. Prevalent ideas and ideals which evolved domestically such as important national holidays, uniquely American sports, proud military tradition, and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole.
It includes both conservative and liberal elements, military and scientific competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements.
It also includes elements which evolved from Native Americans, and other ethnic subcultures; most prominently the culture of African American slave descendants and different cultures from Latin America. Many cultural elements, especially popular culture have been exported across the globe through modern mass media where American culture is sometimes resented[citation needed]. A few[which?] of the cultural elements have remained rather exclusive to North America.
Although the United States has no official language at the federal level, 30 states have passed legislation making English the official language and it is widely considered to be the de facto national language. Spanish has official status in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and there are several enclaves throughout the country in which Spanish is the primary spoken language.[1] Bilingual speakers may use both English and Spanish reasonably well but code-switch according to their dialog partner or context. Some refer to this phenomenon as Spanglish.
Indigenous languages of the United States include the Native American languages, which are spoken on the country’s numerous Indian reservations and Native American cultural events such as pow wows; Hawaiian, which has official status in the state of Hawaii; Chamorro, which has official status in the commonwealths of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands; Carolinian, which has official status in the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and Samoan, which has official status in the commonwealth of American Samoa.
[edit] Native Language Statistics for the United States
It should be noted the following information is an estimation as actual statistics constantly vary.
According to the CIA,[2] the following is the percentage of native speakers of different languages in the United States:
English (82.1%) Spanish (10.7%) Other Indo-European languages (3.8%) Other Asian or Pacific Islander languages (2.7%) Other languages (0.7%)
Mark Twain is regarded as among the greatest writers in American history.Main article: Literature of the United States
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, American art and literature took most of its cues from Europe. During its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition. Writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau established a distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the nineteenth century. Mark Twain and poet Walt Whitman were major figures in the century's second half; Emily Dickinson, virtually unknown during her lifetime, would be recognized as America's other essential poet. Eleven U.S. citizens have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, most recently Toni Morrison in 1993. Ernest Hemingway, the 1954 Nobel laureate, is often named as one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.[3] A work seen as capturing fundamental aspects of the national experience and character—such as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925)—may be dubbed the "Great American Novel". Popular literary genres such as the Western and hardboiled crime fiction were developed in the United States.
[edit] ReligionMain article: Religion in the United States
Completed in 1716, Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Acuña is one of numerous surviving colonial Spanish missions in the United States. These were primarily used to convert the Native Americans to Roman Catholicism.
Surrounded by sleek modern skyscrapers, Saint Patrick's Cathedral stands as the last old world holdout of New York's Rockefeller Plaza
Among developed countries, the US is one of the most religious in terms of its demographics. According to a 2002 study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the US was the only developed nation in the survey where a majority of citizens reported that religion played a "very important" role in their lives, an attitude similar to that found in its neighbors in Latin America.[4]
Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by English and Irish settlers who wished to practice their own religion without discrimination or persecution as religious extremists in Europe: Pennsylvania was established by Quakers, Maryland by Roman Catholics and the Massachusetts Bay Colony by Puritans. Nine of the thirteen colonies had official public religions. Yet by the time of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, the United States became one of the first countries in the world to codify freedom of religion into law, although this originally applied only to the federal government, and not to state governments or their political subdivisions.
Modeling the provisions concerning religion within the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the framers of the United States Constitution rejected any religious test for office, and the First Amendment specifically denied the central government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion, or prohibiting its free exercise. In following decades, the animating spirit behind the constitution's Establishment Clause led to the disestablishment of the official religions within the member states. The framers were mainly influenced by secular, Enlightenment ideals, but they also considered the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups who did not want to be under the power or influence of a state religion that did not represent them.[5] Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence said "The priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot."[6]
Martin Luther King Day memorializes the legacy of Dr. King, who is widely regarded as the Patriarch of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King is pictured above delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Inauguration Day is the only Federal holiday that is not annual but rather occurs only once every four years. The day begins with the inaguaration ceremony and ends with a military parade.
Halloween is a widely observed tradition in the United States. It typically involves dressing up in costumes and an emphasis on the bizarre and frightening.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is attended by over 2.5 million people each year. It is the largest organized festivity in the United States and is viewed by more Americans each year than any other holiday celebration.[8]
The United States observes holidays derived from events in US history, religious traditions, and national patriarchs.
As a legacy of colonization, Thanksgiving has become a traditional American holiday which evolved from the will of English pilgrims to “give thanks” for their welfare. Today, Thanksgiving is generally celebrated as a family reunion with a large afternoon feast. European colonization has led to many traditional Christian holidays such as Easter, Lent, St. Patrick’s Day, and Christmas to be widely observed albeit they are celebrated in a secular manner by many people today.
Independence Day (colloquially known as the Fourth of July) celebrates the anniversary of the country’s Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It is generally observed by parades throughout the day and the shooting of fireworks at night.
Halloween is thought to have evolved from the ancient celtic festival of Samhain which was introduced in the American colonies by Irish settlers. It has become a holiday that is widely celebrated by children and teens who traditionally dress up in costumes and go door to door saying the words “Trick or Treat” in exchange for candy. It also brings about an emphasis on eerie and frightening urban legends and movies. The popularity of celebrating Halloween has become continusly popular among university students in the US. Both University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio are known across the US for their Halloween street fairs.
Additionally, Mardi Gras, which evolved from the Catholic tradition of Carnival, is observed notably in New Orleans, St. Louis, and Mobile, AL as well as numerous other towns. Texas still observes the anniversary of its Independence Day from Mexico.
Federally recognized holidays are as follows:
Date Official Name Remarks
January 1 New Year's Day
Celebrates beginning of the Gregorian calendar year. Festivities include counting down to midnight (12:00 AM) on the preceding night, New Year's Eve. Traditional end of holiday season.
Third Monday in January
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., or Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Honors Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights leader, who was actually born on January 15, 1929; combined with other holidays in several states.
January 20, the first January 20 following a Presidential election
Inauguration Day Observed only by federal government employees in Washington D.C., and the border counties of Maryland and Virginia, in order to relieve congestion that occurs with this major event. Swearing-in of President of the United States and Vice President of the United States. Celebrated every fourth year. Note: Takes place on January
21 if the 20th is a Sunday (although the President is still privately inaugurated on the 20th). If Inauguration Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the preceding Friday or following Monday is not a Federal Holiday
Third Monday in February
Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday was first declared a federal holiday by an 1879 act of Congress. The Uniform Holidays Act, 1968, shifted the date of the commemoration of Washington's Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Many people now refer to this holiday as "Presidents' Day" and consider it a day honoring all American presidents. However, neither the Uniform Holidays Act nor any subsequent law changed the name of the holiday from Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day.[9]
Last Monday in May
Memorial Day
Honors the nation's war dead from the Civil War onwards; marks the unofficial beginning of the summer season. (traditionally May 30, shifted by the Uniform Holidays Act 1968)
July 4 Independence DayCelebrates Declaration of Independence, also called the Fourth of July.
First Monday in September
Labor DayCelebrates the achievements of workers and the labor movement; marks the unofficial end of the summer season.
Second Monday in October
Columbus Day
Honors Christopher Columbus, traditional discoverer of the Americas. In some areas it is also a celebration of Italian culture and heritage. (traditionally October 12); celebrated as American Indian Heritage Day and Fraternal Day in Alabama;[10] celebrated as Native American Day in South Dakota.[11] In Hawaii, it is celebrated as Discoverer's Day, though is not an official state holiday.[12]
November 11 Veterans Day
Honors all veterans of the United States armed forces. A traditional observation is a moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. remembering those killed in war. (Commemorates the 1918 armistice, which began at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.")
Fourth Thursday in November
Thanksgiving Day
Traditionally celebrates the giving of thanks for the autumn harvest. Traditionally includes the consumption of a turkey dinner. Traditional start of the holiday season.
December 25 Christmas Celebrates the Nativity of Jesus. Some people
consider aspects of this religious holiday, such as giving gifts and decorating a Christmas tree, to be secular rather than explicitly Christian.
Federal Holidays Calendars from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
[edit] CuisineMain article: Cuisine of the United States
Mainstream American culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by American Indians and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles. Soul food, developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. Syncretic cuisines such as Louisiana creole, Cajun, and Tex-Mex are regionally important. Iconic American dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants and domestic innovations. So-called French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.[13] Americans generally prefer coffee to tea, with more than half the adult population drinking at least one cup a day.[14] Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk (now often fat-reduced) ubiquitous breakfast beverages.[15] During the 1980s and 1990s, Americans' caloric intake rose 24%;[13] frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what health officials call the American "obesity epidemic." Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular; sugared beverages account for 9% of the average American's daily caloric intake.[16]
Common American Foods
Traditional Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce.
Typical American seafood with Fried fish, shrimp, hush puppies, and fries.
Massive marching bands accompanied by cheerleaders and colorguard are almost universal at American Football games, especially during halftime. Although high school bands tend to be much smaller, it is rare for a game not to feature a marching band at halftime.
Bowling is a popular pastime for Americans of all ages.
Sports in the United States are an important part of the American culture. However, the sporting culture of the U.S. is unique from that of many other countries. Compared to any other nation, American preferences for sports differ from the rest of the world. For example, professional soccer is not as popular in the United States as it is in many parts of the world.
Baseball is the oldest of the major American teamsports. Professional baseball dates from 1869 and had no close rivals in popularity until the 1960s; though baseball is no longer the most popular sport it is still referred to as the "national pastime." Also unlike the professional levels of the other popular spectator sports in the U.S., Major League Baseball teams play almost every day from April to October. American football now attracts more television viewers than baseball; however, National Football League teams play only 16 regular-season games each year, so baseball is the runaway leader in ticket sales.
Basketball is another major sport, represented professionally by the National Basketball Association. It was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts 1891, by Canadian-born physical education teacher James Naismith.
American football, known in many anglophone countries as gridiron, is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the United States. The 32-team National Football League (NFL) is the most popular and only major professional American football league. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is the biggest annual sporting event held in the United States. Additional millions also watch college football throughout the autumn months, and some communities, particularly in rural areas, place great emphasis on their local high school team. American football games usually include cheerleaders and marching bands which aim to raise school spirit and entertain the crowd at half-time.
Many Americans recognize a fourth sport - Ice hockey. Always a mainstay of Great Lakes and New England-area culture, the sport gained tenuous footholds in regions like the American South in recent years, as the National Hockey League pursued a policy of expansion.
The quickly growing sport of mixed martial arts has taken off in America since its introduction in the early 1990s. Today, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is one of the most profitable organizations in the country.
[edit] Sports and community culture
Homecoming is an annual tradition of the United States. People, towns, high schools and colleges come together, usually in late September or early October, to welcome back former residents and alumni. It is built around a central event, such as a banquet, a parade, and most often, a game of American football, or, on occasion, basketball, or ice hockey. When celebrated by schools, the activities vary widely. However, they usually consist of a football game played on the school's home football field, activities for students and alumni, a parade featuring the school's marching band and sports teams, and the coronation of a Homecoming Queen (and at many schools, a Homecoming King).
Cultural map of the world according to the World Values Survey, describing the United States as low in "Rational-Secular Values" and high in "Self-Expression values".
There is a fondness for scientific advancement and technological innovation in American culture. Some of these efforts are centered in Silicon Valley. Other strong scientific areas include nuclear research, space (NASA), military research, and biotech. Respect for scientific advancement still ranks high in the US and the element of competitiveness is exercised as early as in elementary school.
American culture has also made significant gains through the immigration of accomplished scientists. For example, numerous members of the European intelligentsia emigrated during World War II to escape Fascist persecution. At the time, the U.S. was one of the few safe countries to flee to.
[edit] Visual artsMain article: Visual arts of the United States
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, American artists primarily painted landscapes and portraits in a realistic style. A parallel development taking shape in rural America was the American craft movement, which began as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Developments in modern art in Europe came to America from exhibitions in New York City such as the Armory Show in 1913. After World War II, New York emerged as a center of the art world.[citation needed]Painting in the United States today covers a vast range of styles.
Architecture in the US is regionally diverse and has been shaped by many external forces, not only English. US Architecture can therefore be said to be eclectic, something unsurprising in such a multicultural society.[17] In the absence of a single large-scale architectural influence from indigenous peoples such as those in Mexico or Peru, generations of designers have incorporated influences from around the world. Currently, the overriding theme of American Architecture is modernity: an example of which are the skyscrapers of the 20th century.
Early Neoclassicism accompanied the Founding Father's idealization of European Enlightenment, making it the predominant architectural style for public buildings and large manors. However, in recent years, the suburbanization and mass migration to the Sun Belt has allowed architecture to reflect a Mediterranean style as well.
[edit] Sculpture
Main article: Sculpture of the United States
The history of sculpture in the United States reflects the country's 18th century foundation in Roman republican civic values as well as Protestant Christianity.[citation needed] Perhaps the most iconic American sculpture is the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, an 18m high relief of four US Presidents' faces carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore.
[edit] Popular culture
American popular culture has expressed itself through nearly every medium, including movies, music, and sports.
Mickey Mouse Barbie Metallica Michael Jackson Elvis Presley Britney Spears Madonna Bruce Springsteen Nirvana Rihanna Michael Phelps Andre Agassi Aerosmith Lance Armstrong Babe Ruth Baseball
American football Basketball screwball comedy G.I. Joe Jazz Country music Rap & Hip Hop The Simpsons Superman SpongeBob SquarePants The Sopranos Gone with the Wind Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Manson James Dean Tom Cruise Brad Pitt Michael Jordan Indiana Jones Sylvester Stalone Sesame Street Catch-22 Star Trek Star Wars
These names, genres, and phrases have joined more tangible American products in spreading across the globe.
The U.S. is also popular for evolving/adapting many elements of various other cultures, such as food (i.e. pizza, hamburgers, and hibachi), and television shows (American Idol, Power Rangers).
[edit] Fashion
Main article: Fashion in the United States
Apart from professional business attire, fashion in the United States is eclectic and predominantly informal.[citation needed]Blue jeans were popularized as work clothes in the 1850s by merchant Levi Strauss, a German immigrant in San Francisco, and adopted by many American teenagers a century later. They are now widely worn in every state by people of all ages and social classes.[citation needed]Along with mass-marketed informal wear in general, blue jeans are arguably U.S. culture's primary contribution to global fashion.[18] The country was also home to the headquarters of many leading designer labels such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Labels such as Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, and Hollister cater to various niche markets.
Further iconic items of American fashion are the T-Shirt and the Baseball cap.
[edit] Theater
Main article: Theater in the United States
Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition, mostly borrowed from the performance styles prevalent in Europe, especially England.[citation needed] Today, it is heavily interlaced with American literature, film, television, and music, and it is not uncommon for a single story to appear in all forms. Regions with significant music scenes often have strong theater and comedy traditions as well. Musical theater may be the most popular form: it is certainly the most colorful, and choreographed motions pioneered on stage have found their way onto movie and television screens. Broadway in New York City is generally considered the pinnacle of commercial U.S. theater, though this art form appears all across the country. Off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway diversify the theatre experience in New York. New York's Theater District is also the largest in the country with Cleveland's being the second largest. Another city of particular note is Chicago, which boasts the most diverse and dynamic theater scene in the country. Regional or resident theatres in the United States are professional theatre companies outside of New York City that produce their own seasons. Often tiny rural communities are able to awe audiences with extravagant productions.
[edit] Television
Main article: Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-seven percent of American households have at least one television set and the majority of households have more than three.[citation needed]
The US can be said to be the homeland of modern network television.
[edit] Music
Main article: Music in the United States
American contemporary music can be heard all over the world, through MTV, Channel V, VH1, BET and by artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Patsy Cline, Billy Joel, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Randy Newman, Madonna, Eminem, Backstreet Boys, Rihanna, Dean Martin, Aerosmith, B. B. King, The Doors, Prince, Bon Jovi, Nirvana, Van Halen, Garth Brooks, Weezer, The Ramones, Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold, Wu-Tang Clan and Green Day. American popular music also contains many styles of music that developed in the US and were popular music when they came up (or still are). Examples are rock & roll, hip-hop, Dance, swing, jazz, blues, country, R&B, funk, pop, and various others.
American films are very popular, including icons like Star Wars, The Godfather, The Karate Kid, Schindler's List, Titanic and The Matrix. American movie actors and actresses are widely recognized such as Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Marilyn Monroe, George Clooney, Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp.[citation needed] Outside the US, American Film is usually referred to in a generalizing manner as Hollywood.
[edit] Dance
Main article: Dance in the United States
There is great variety in dance in the United States, it is the home of the Lindy Hop and its derivative Rock and Roll, and modern square dance (associated with the United States of America due to its historic development in that country—nineteen U.S. states have designated it as their official state dance) and one of the major centers for modern dance. There is a variety of social dance and concert or performance dance forms with also a range of traditions of Native American dances.
[edit] FirearmsMain article: Gun politics in the United StatesMain article: Gun culture
In sharp contrast to most other developed nations, firearms laws in the United States are permissive and private gun ownership is common, with about 40% of households containing at least one firearm. In fact, there are more privately owned firearms in the United States than in any other nation on earth, both per capita and in total.[19] Rates of gun ownership vary greatly by region and by state, with gun ownership tending to be most common in Alaska, the Mountain States and the South and least common in Hawaii, the island territories and the Northeast megalopolis.[20] Hunting, plinking and target shooting are popular pastimes, although ownership of firearms purely for utilitarian purposes such as self-defense is common as well. Ownership of handguns, while not uncommon, is less common than ownership of long guns. Gun ownership is much more prevalent among men than women, with men being approximately four times more likely to report owning guns than women.[21]
[edit] See also Americana America 24/7 Broadway theatre Culture of the Southern United States
1. ̂ [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_DP2&-context=adp&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=306&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= - "Selected Social Characteristics in the United States: 2007"]. United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_DP2&-context=adp&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=306&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-format= -. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
2. ̂ United States, CIA World Factbook. 3. ̂ Meyers, Jeffrey (1999). Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Da Capo, p. 139.
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http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=167. Retrieved 1 January 2007.
5. ̂ Marsden, George M. 1990. Religion and American Culture. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, pp.45-46.
6. ̂ Jefferson, Thomas (1904). The writings of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association of the United States. pp. 119.
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8.htm. 11. ̂ "Holidays Observed". http://www.state.sd.us/puc/misc/holidays.htm. 12. ̂ http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Oct/08/br/br2504137896.html 13. ^ a b Klapthor, James N. (2003-08-23). "What, When, and Where Americans Eat
in 2003". Institute of Food Technologists. http://www.ift.org/cms/?pid=1000496. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
15. ̂ Smith, Andrew F. (2004). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 131–32. ISBN 0-19-515437-1. Levenstein, Harvey (2003). Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, pp. 154–55. ISBN 0-520-23439-1. Pirovano, Tom (2007). "Health & Wellness Trends—The Speculation Is Over". AC Nielsen. http://us.acnielsen.com/pubs/2006_q1_ci_health.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
16. ̂ "Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity". Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. American Heart Association. 2005. http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/12/2451#R3-101329. Retrieved 2007-06-09. "Let's Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and Nutrition" (PDF). U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib19/eib19_reportsummary.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
17. ̂ Dell Upton. 1998. "Architecture in the United States-Oxford history of art." pp. 11 ff. ISBN 019284217X
18. ̂ Davis, Fred (1992). Fashion, Culture, and Identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 69. ISBN 0-226-13809-7.
19. ̂ "U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2834893820070828.
20. ̂ "Gun Ownership by State". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/interactives/guns/ownership.html.
21. ̂ "The US gun stock: results from the 2004 national firearms survey". Injury Prevention Journal. http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/13/1/15.full.
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Culture of China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, searchFor contemporary culture after 1949, see Culture of the People's Republic of China.
A Chinese Opera (Beijing Opera) performance in Beijing.
The Culture of China (simplified Chinese: 中国文化; traditional Chinese: 中國文化; pinyin: Zhōngguó wénhuà) is one of the world's oldest and most complex cultures[1][2]. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces.
1 People in the culture o 1.1 Identity o 1.2 Regional
2 Society o 2.1 Structure o 2.2 Values
3 Language 4 Mythology and spirituality 5 Literature 6 Music 7 Arts 8 Martial arts 9 Fashion 10 Architecture 11 Cuisine 12 Leisure 13 Gallery 14 See also 15 References
16 External links
[edit] People in the culture
People in imperial China during silk production - Qing dynasty
[edit] Identity
Today there are 56 distinct recognized ethnic groups in China.[3] In terms of numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional cultural identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the family name.
Traditional Chinese Culture covers large geographical territories, where each region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures. Each region is often represented by three ancestral items. For example Guangdong is represented by chenpi, aged ginger and hay.[4]
[5] Others include ancient cities like Lin'an (Hangzhou), which include tea leaf, bamboo shoot trunk and hickory nut.[6]
[edit] Society
Gold detailing on a throne used by the Qianlong Emperor. The Chinese dragon was a symbol reserved for the Emperor of China or high level imperial families during the Qing Dynasty
[edit] Structure
Main article: Social structure of China
Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, some form of Chinese monarch has been the main ruler above all. Different periods of history have different names for the various positions within society. Conceptually each imperial or feudal period is similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the hierarchy, and the rest of the population under regular Chinese law.[7] Since the late Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), traditional Chinese society was organized into a hierarchic system of socio-economic classes known as the four occupations. However, this system did not cover all social groups while the distinctions between all groups became blurred ever since the commercialization of Chinese culture in the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE). Ancient Chinese education also has a long history; ever since the Sui Dynasty (581–618 CE) educated candidates prepared for the Imperial examinations which and made people get drafted exam graduates into government as scholar-bureaucrats. Trades and crafts were usually taught by a shifu. The female historian Ban Zhao wrote the Lessons for Women in the Han Dynasty and outlined the four virtues women must abide to, while scholars such as Zhu Xi and Cheng Yi would expand upon this. Chinese marriage and Taoist sexual practices are some of the customs and rituals found in society.
Main articles: Chinese philosophy and Religion in China
Most social values are derived from Confucianism and Taoism. The subject of which school was the most influential is always debated as many concepts such as Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism and many others have come about. Reincarnation and other rebirth concept is a reminder of the connection between real-life and the after-life. In Chinese business culture, the concept of guanxi, indicating the primacy of relations over rules, has been well documented.[8]
[edit] Language
Chinese calligraphy written by Song Dynasty (1051-1108 CE) poet Mi FuMain articles: Chinese language and History of Standard Mandarin
The first 4,000 years of Spoken Chinese encompassed both Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, after which it began to split into various dialects and languages about 1,000 years ago. In the Ming Dynasty standard Mandarin was nationalized. Even so, it wasn't until the Republic of China era in the 1900s when there was any noticeable result in promoting a common unified language in China.
The ancient written standard was Classical Chinese. It was used for thousands of years, but was mostly reserved for scholars and intellectuals. By the 20th century, millions of citizens, especially those outside of the imperial court were illiterate [7] . Only after the May 4th Movement did the push for Vernacular Chinese begin. This allowed common citizens to read since it was modeled after the linguistics and phonology of a spoken language.
A Luohan, one of the spiritual figures shared between Chinese and Indian culture across different types of Buddhism.
Sūn Wùkōng in Journey to the WestMain articles: Chinese spiritual world concepts, Chinese mythology, and Chinese folk religion
Chinese religion was originally oriented to worshipping the supreme god Shang Di during the Xia and Shang dynasties, with the king and diviners acting as priests and using oracle bones. The Zhou dynasty oriented it to worshipping the broader concept of heaven. A large part of Chinese culture is based on the notion that a spiritual world exists. Countless methods of divination have helped answer questions, even serving as an alternate to medicine. Folklores have helped fill the gap for things that cannot be explained. There is often a blurred line between myth, religion and unexplained phenomenon. While many deities are part of the tradition, some of the most recognized holy figures include Guan Yin, Jade Emperor and Buddha. Many of the stories have since evolved into traditional Chinese holidays. Other concepts have extended to outside of mythology into spiritual symbols such as Door god and the Imperial guardian lions. Along with the belief of the holy, there is also the evil. Practices such as Taoist exorcism fighting mogwai and jiang shi with peachwood swords are just some of the concepts passed down from generations. A few Chinese fortune telling rituals are still in use today after thousands of years of refinement.
Chinese literature began with record keeping and divination on Oracle Bones. The extensive collection of books that have been preserved since the Zhou Dynasty demonstrate just how advanced the intellectuals were at one time. Indeed, the era of the Zhou Dynasty is often looked to as the touchstone of Chinese cultural development. The Five Cardinal Points are the foundation for almost all major studies. Concepts covered within the Chinese classic texts present a wide range of subjects including poetry, astrology, astronomy, calendar, constellations and many others. Some of the most important early texts include I Ching and Shujing within the Four Books and Five Classics. Many Chinese concepts such as Yin and Yang, Qi, Four Pillars of Destiny in relation to heaven and earth were all theorized in the dynastic periods.
Notable confucianists, taoists and scholars of all classes have made significant contributions to and from documenting history to authoring saintly concepts that seem hundred of years ahead of time. Many novels such as Four Great Classical Novels spawned countless fictional stories. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, Chinese culture would embark on a new era with Vernacular Chinese for the common citizens. Hu Shih and Lu Xun would be pioneers in modern literature.
[edit] Music
A performer of Chinese operaMain article: Music of China
The music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BCE - 256 BCE). Some of the oldest written music dates back to
Confucius's time. The first major well-documented flowering of Chinese music was for the qin during the Tang Dynasty, though it is known to have played a major part before the Han Dynasty.
[edit] Arts
A Tang Dynasty tri-color Chinese glazed horse circa 700 CEFor all major visual, performance or artistic categories, see Chinese art.
Different forms of art have swayed under the influence of great philosophers, teachers, religious figures and even political figures. Chinese art encompasses all facets of fine art, folk art and performance art. Porcelain pottery was one of the first forms of art in the Palaeolithic period. Early Chinese music and poetry was influenced by the Book of Songs, and the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan. Chinese painting became a highly appreciated art in court circles encompassing a wide variety of Shan shui with specialized styles such as Ming Dynasty painting. Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away to string and reed instruments. By the Han dynasty papercutting became a new art form after the invention of paper. Chinese opera would also be introduced and branched regionally in additional to other performance formats such as variety arts.
[edit] Martial arts
Demonstrating Kung Fu at Daxiangguo Monastery, Kaifeng, Henan.Main articles: Chinese martial arts and List of Chinese martial arts
China is one of the main birth places of Eastern martial arts. The names of martial arts were called Kung Fu or its first name Wushu. China also includes the home to the well-respected Shaolin Monastery and Wudang Mountains. The first generation of art started more for the purpose of survival and warfare than art. Over time, some art forms have branched off, while others have retained a distinct Chinese flavor. Regardless, China has produced some of the most renowned martial artists including Wong Fei Hung and many others. The arts have also co-existed with a variety of weapons including the more standard 18 arms. Legendary and controversial moves like Dim Mak are also praised and talked about within the culture.
[edit] Fashion
Men and women in xuanduan formal wear at a Confucian ceremony in China
A north corner of Forbidden City, featuring classic construction styleMain article: Clothing of China
Different social classes in different eras boast different fashion trends, the color yellow is usually reserved for the emperor. China's fashion history covers hundreds of years with some of the most colorful and diverse arrangements. During the Qing Dynasty, China's last imperial dynasty dramatic shift of clothing occurred, the clothing of the era before the Qing Dynasty is reffered to as Hanfu or traditional Han Chinese clothing. Many symbols such as phoenix have been used for decorative as well as economic purposes.
[edit] ArchitectureMain article: Chinese architecture
Chinese architecture, examples of which can be found from over 2,000 years ago, has long been a hallmark of the culture. There are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless of specific region or use. The most important is its emphasis on width, as the wide halls of the Forbidden City serve as an example. In contrast, Western architecture emphasize on height, though there are exceptions such as pagodas.
Another important feature is symmetry, which connotes a sense of grandeur as it applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses. One notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. Like Chinese scroll paintings, the principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow, to let the patron wander and enjoy the garden without prescription, as in nature herself. Feng shui has played an important part in structural development.
[edit] Cuisine
Chinese meal in Suzhou with rice, shrimp, eggplant, fermented tofu, vegetable stir-fry, vegetarian duck with meat and bamboo
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chinese proverbs
Main article: Chinese cuisine
The overwhelmingly large variety mainly comes from the emperors hosting a banquet of 100 dishes each meal[9]. A countless number of imperial kitchen staff and concubines were involved in the food preparation process. Over time, many dishes became part of the everyday-citizen culture. Some of the highest quality restaurants with recipes close to the dynastic periods include Fangshan restaurant in Beihai Park Beijing and the Oriole Pavilion[9]. Arguably all branches of Hong Kong eastern style or even American Chinese food are in some ways rooted from the original dynastic cuisines.
[edit] Leisure
A number of games and pastimes are popular within Chinese culture. The most common game is Mah Jong. The same pieces are used for other styled games such as Shanghai Solitaire. Others include Pai Gow, Pai gow poker and other bone domino games. Weiqi and Xiangqi are also popular. Ethnic games like Chinese yo-yo are also part of the culture.
2. ̂ "Guggenheim Museum - China: 5,000 years". Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation & Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. 6 February 1998 to 1998-06-03. http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/china/index.html. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
3. ̂ Chinatraveldepot.com. "Chinatraveldepot.com." Fifty-six Ethnic Groups in China 1 June 2009.
4. ̂ Huaxia.com. "Huaxia.com." 廣東三寶之一禾稈草. Retrieved on 20 June 2009. 5. ̂ RTHK. "RTHK.org." 1/4/2008 three treasures. Retrieved on 20 June 2009. 6. ̂ Xinhuanet.com. "Xinhuanet.com." 說三與三寶. Retrieved on 20 June 2009. 7. ^ a b Mente, Boye De. [2000] (2000). The Chinese Have a Word for it: The Complete
Guide to Chinese thought and Culture. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-658-01078-6 8. ̂ Alon, Ilan, ed. (2003), Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International
Business Management, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. 9. ^ a b Kong, Foong, Ling. [2002] (2002). The Food of Asia. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-
7946-0146-4
[edit] External links A Classification of Chinese Culture by Ying Fan Exploring Ancient World Cultures - Ancient China , University of Evansville Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home explored Chinese Culture Articles Embracing Chinese Culture Oriental Style -- The Genuine Soul of Chinese Culture
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1 Sometimes included in Europe, depending on the border definitions. 2 Officially known as
Myanmar. 3 Sometimes included in Oceania, and also known as Timor-Leste. 4
Transcontinental country. 5 Commonly known as Taiwan.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_China"Categories: Chinese culture | Asian cultureHidden categories: Articles containing simplified Chinese language text | Articles containing traditional Chinese language text
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Cultural diversity by region
Canadian culture is a term that explains the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements that are representative of Canada, not only to its own population, but people all over the world. Canada's culture has historically been influenced by European culture and traditions, especially British and French. Over time, elements of the cultures of Canada's Aboriginal peoples and immigrant populations have become incorporated into mainstream Canadian culture. It has also been strongly influenced by that of its linguistic, economic, and cultural neighbour, the United States.
Canada's federal government has influenced Canadian culture with programs, laws and institutions. It has created crown corporations to promote Canadian culture through media, such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and promotes many events which it considers to promote Canadian traditions. It has also tried to protect Canadian culture by setting legal minimums on Canadian content in many media using bodies like the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[1]
Canada's culture, like that of most any country in the world, is a product of its history, geography, and political system. Being a settler nation, Canada has been shaped by waves of migration that have combined to form a unique blend of customs, cuisine, and traditions that have marked the socio-cultural development of the nation. In this article, several aspects of Canadian culture will be discussed. Though this article attempts to feature a variety of subjects pertinent to the culture of Canada, it is in no way exhaustive, and to gain a much deeper knowledge of Canada and its culture, one must also consult the other articles pertaining to Canada and its peoples.
1 Development of Canadian culture o 1.1 Bilingualism and multiculturalism o 1.2 Aboriginal influences o 1.3 Canadian identity o 1.4 Canadian nationalism
2 Cultural protectionism in Canada 3 Symbols 4 Arts
o 4.1 Literature o 4.2 Music o 4.3 Canadian theatre o 4.4 Film and television
5 Canadian humour 6 Sport 7 Outside views 8 See also 9 References
10 External links
[edit] Development of Canadian culture
The Jack Pine, by Tom Thomson, 1916. Oil on Canvas, in the collection of the National Gallery of CanadaSee also: History of Canada
Canadian culture is a product of Canada's history and geography. Most of Canada's territory was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of Canadian culture.[2] The British conquest of Canada in 1759 brought a large Francophone population under British rule, creating a need for
compromise and accommodation, while the migration of United Empire Loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies brought in strong British and American influences.
Although not without conflict, Canada's early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful, compared to the experience of native peoples in the United States. Combined with relatively late economic development in many regions, this peaceful history has allowed Canadian native peoples to have a relatively strong influence on the national culture while preserving their own identity.[3]
[edit] Bilingualism and multiculturalism
Main articles: Official bilingualism in Canada, Spoken languages of Canada, Canadian English, and Quebec French
French Canada's early development was relatively cohesive during the 17th and 18th centuries, and this was preserved by the Quebec Act of 1774, which allowed Francophone culture to survive and thrive within Canada.[4] In 1867, the British North America Act was designed to meet the growing calls for Canadian autonomy while avoiding the overly-strong decentralization that contributed to the Civil War in the United States.[5] The compromises made by Macdonald and Cartier set Canada on a path to bilingualism,[6] and this in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity that later led to both multiculturalism and tolerance of Native culture and customs.[7]
A Chinese gate in downtown Montreal.
Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In parts of Canada, especially the major cities of Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto (for example, in Toronto's Kensington Market area), multiculturalism itself is the cultural norm and diversity is the force that unites the community.[8]
In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many French-speaking Quebecer commentators speak of a Quebec culture as distinguished from English Canadian culture, but some also see Canada as a collection of several regional, aboriginal, and ethnic subcultures.[9]
While French Canadian culture is the most obvious example, Celtic influences have allowed survival of non-English dialects in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; however, the
influence of Ulster immigrants to Toronto has had the effect of minimizing Irish influences in Ontario's culture, and highlighting British influences instead, until the 1980s. Canada's Pacific trade has also brought a large Chinese influence into British Columbia and other areas.
Canada's cultural diversity also creates an environment much more accepting of LGBT people than one finds in many other countries.[10] Canada has always placed emphasis on equality and inclusiveness for all people. For example, in 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Egan v. Canada that sexual orientation should be "read in" to Section Fifteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a part of the Constitution of Canada guaranteeing equal rights to all Canadians. Following a series of decisions by provincial courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, on July 20, 2005, the Civil Marriage Act (Bill C-38) received Royal Assent, legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. Canada thus became the fourth country to officially sanction same-sex marriage worldwide, after The Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain. Furthermore, by 2005, sexual orientation was included as a protected status in the human rights laws of the federal government and of all provinces and territories.
Further information: LGBT rights in Canada
[edit] Aboriginal influences
Main articles: Aboriginal peoples in Canada#Culture and Inuit culture
Many native icons, such as this dreamcatcher, have been adopted by Canadians as a whole.
Aboriginal peoples in Canada interacted with Europeans as far back as 1000 AD,[11] but prolonged contact came only after Europeans established permanent settlements in the 17th and 18th centuries. European written accounts, though biased, generally noted
friendliness on the part of the First Nations,[11] some of whom profited in trade with Europeans. Such trade generally strengthened the more organized political entities such as the Iroquois Confederation.[12]
There were, and are, many distinct Aboriginal peoples across Canada, each with its own culture, beliefs, values, language, and history. Much of this legacy remains celebrated artistically, and in other ways, in Canada to this day. Part of the emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is an inunnguaq, a rock sculpture that is made by stacking stones in the shape of a human figure, that is a part of Inuit culture and the nation's perception of itself. According to the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Canada's ethnic, racial and religious diversity is rapidly increasing. According to the 2001 census, more than 200 ethnic origins are represented in Canada. About 13.5 percent of the population is a member of a visible minority group and that proportion is expected to reach 20 percent by 2016. Immigration now accounts for more than 50 percent of Canada's population growth, with immigrants coming mainly from Asia and the Middle East. It is projected that, after 2025, Canada's population growth will be based solely on immigration.—Judith Larocque, Deputy Minister, "Serving Canada's Multicultural Population: Practical Approaches for Public Servants."[13]
[edit] Canadian identity
Main article: Canadian identity
The maple leaf is the symbol most associated with Canadian identity.
Primary influences on the Canadian identity trace back to the arrival, beginning in the early 17th century, of French settlers to Acadia and Saint Lawrence River valley, English settlers to Newfoundland and the British conquest and settlement of New France from the early 18th century. First Nations played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, from their role in assisting exploration of the continent, the fur trade and inter-European power struggles to the creation of the Métis people. Through their art and culture, First Nations, Inuit and Métis continue to exert influence on Canadian identity.
The question of Canadian identity was traditionally dominated by three fundamental themes: first, the often conflicted relations between English Canadians and French Canadians stemming from the French Canadian imperative for cultural and linguistic survival; secondly, the generally close ties between English Canadians and the British
Empire, resulting in a gradual political process towards complete independence from the imperial power and, finally, the close proximity of English-speaking Canadians to the military, economic and cultural powerhouse of the United States. With the gradual loosening of political and cultural ties to the United Kingdom, in the 20th century immigrants from European, African, Caribbean and Asian nationalities have shaped the Canadian identity, a process that continues today with the continuing arrival of large numbers of immigrants from non British or French backgrounds, adding the theme of multiculturalism to the debate.[14][15][16] Today, Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and cultures and constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism rather than a single national myth[17].
The issue of Canadian identity remains under scrutiny, perhaps more than the identity of the people of any other modern nation.[18] Journalist Andrew Cohen wrote in 2007:
The Canadian Identity, as it has come to be known, is as elusive as the Sasquatch and Ogopogo. It has animated--and frustrated--generations of statesmen, historians, writers, artists, philosophers, and the National Film Board...Canada resists easy definition.—Andrew Cohen, The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are[19]
In true Canadian fashion, however, even the search for an identity has become itself an object for self-criticism.[20]
[edit] Canadian nationalism
Main article: Canadian nationalism
In general, Canadian nationalists are highly concerned about the protection of Canadian sovereignty and loyalty to the Canadian State, placing them in the civic nationalist category. It has likewise often been suggested that anti-Americanism, or at least hostility towards the United States, often plays a prominent role in Canadian nationalist ideologies. When nationalists speak of "independence", it is widely understood that the actual meaning is "independence from the United States". Canadian nationalists may in fact promote stronger ties to other nations, and encourage closer integration with the European Union or the United Nations as a way of offsetting US influences.
[edit] Cultural protectionism in CanadaMain article: Canadian cultural protectionism
Cultural protectionism in Canada has, since the mid-20th century, taken the form of conscious, interventionist attempts on the part of various Canadian governments to promote Canadian cultural production and limit the effect of foreign, largely American, culture on the domestic audience. Sharing a large border and (for the majority) a common language with the United States, Canada faces a difficult position in regard to American culture, be it direct attempts at the Canadian market or the general diffusion of American culture in the globalized media arena. While Canada tries to maintain its cultural differences, it also must balance this with responsibility in trade arrangements such as the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
One of the national symbols of Canada, the beaver is depicted on the Canadian five-cent piece and was on the first Canadian postage stamp, c.1859.
[edit] SymbolsMain articles: National symbols of Canada and Canadian royal symbols
Official symbols of Canada include the maple leaf, beaver, and the Canadian Horse.[21][22]
[23] Many official symbols of the country such as the Flag of Canada have been changed or modified over the past few decades in order to 'Canadianize' them and de-emphasise or remove references to the United Kingdom. Symbols of the monarchy in Canada continue to be featured in, for example, the Arms of Canada and armed forces Her Majesty's Canadian Ship. The designation 'Royal' remains for institutions as varied as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, though with the 1968 unification of the three armed forces into the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy ceased to exist. However, certain Canadian Forces Land Force Command (army) units carry "Royal" titles, Canadian Forces Maritime Command vessels are still styled "HMCS" and Canadian Forces Air Command squadrons still use a Royal Air Force-derived badge surmounted by the Queen's Crown as their official crests.
[edit] ArtsMain articles: Canadian art and List of Canadian artists
Red Maple, 1914, by A. Y. Jackson of the Group of Seven.
The arts have flourished in Canada since the 1900s, and especially since the end of World War II in 1945. Government support has played a vital role in their development, as has the establishment of numerous art schools and colleges across the country.
Cornelius Krieghoff's Habitant Farm, 1856
The works of most early Canadian painters followed European trends. During the mid 1800s, Cornelius Krieghoff, a Dutch born artist in Quebec, painted scenes of the life of the habitants (French-Canadian farmers). At about the same time, the Canadian artist Paul Kane painted pictures of Indian life in western Canada. A group of landscape painters called the Group of Seven developed the first distinctly Canadian style of painting. All these artists painted large, brilliantly coloured scenes of the Canadian wilderness.
Since the 1930s, Canadian painters have developed a wide range of highly individual styles. Emily Carr became famous for her paintings of totem poles in British Columbia. Other noted painters have included the landscape artist David Milne, the abstract painters Jean-Paul Riopelle and Harold Town and multi-media artist Michael Snow.
The abstract art group Painters Eleven, particularly the artists William Ronald and Jack Bush, also had an important impact on modern art in Canada. Canadian sculpture has been enriched by the walrus ivory and soapstone carvings by the Inuit artists. These carvings show objects and activities from the daily life of the Inuit.
Canadian writer Robertson Davies, author of The Deptford Trilogy which included the famous book, Fifth Business.
Canadian literature is often divided into French and English-language literature, which are rooted in the literary traditions of France and Britain, respectively, However, collectively this literature has become distinctly Canadian. Canada’s literature, whether written in English or French, often reflects the Canadian perspective on nature, frontier life, and Canada’s position in the world, Canadian identity is closely tied to its literature. Canadian literature is often categorised by region or province; by the status of the author (e.g., literature of Canadian women, Acadians, Aboriginal peoples, and Irish Canadians); and by literary period, such as "Canadian postmoderns" or "Canadian Poets Between the Wars."
Canadian authors have accumulate numerous international awards.[24] In 1992, Michael Ondaatje became the first Canadian to win the Man Booker Prize for The English Patient. Margaret Atwood won the Booker in 2000 for The Blind Assassin and Yann Martel won it in 2002 for the Life of Pi. Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award.
The Music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people, the French, and the British have all made large contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. Since French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1605 and established the first permanent Canadian settlements at Port Royal and Quebec City in 1608, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles.[25][26] From the 17th century onward Canada has developed a music infrastructure, that includes church halls, chamber halls, conservatories, academies, performing arts centers, record companys, radio stations and television music video channels.[27][28] The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between the two countries.[29][30][31]
Canadian music industry has been helped by government regulation designed to protect and encourage the growth of distinct Canadian culture. The Canadian Content (CANCON) regulations require all radio stations in Canada play at least 36% Canadian music. This has enabled Canadian artists to garner success on the airwaves which were once dominated by American and European acts. Due to these regulations, Canadian music has become much more prevalent on the airwaves.
Canada has produced a variety of internationally successful performers and artist. These individuals are honoured at The Juno Awards, recognizing Canadian achievement in popular music.In addition, Canada is home to a number of popular summer-time folk festivals, including the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Canada has also produced many notable composers, who have contributed in a variety of ways to the history of Western classical music.
[edit] Canadian theatre
Main article: Theatre of Canada
Canada has a thriving stage theatre scene. Theatre festivals draw many tourists in the summer months, especially the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The Famous People Players are only one of many touring companies that have also developed an international reputation. Canada also boasts the world's second largest fringe festival the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.[32]
[edit] Film and television
Main articles: Cinema of Canada and Television in CanadaSee also: Cinema of Quebec
The Canadian film market was dominated by the American film industry for decades, although that film industry has since inception seen a prominent role for actors, directors, producers and technicians of Canadian origin. In the 1960s Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault, Gilles Groulx, Jean Pierre Lefebvre, Arthur Lamothe, Claude Jutra and other filmmakers
from Quebec began to challenge Hollywood by making innovative and politically relevant documentary and feature films.
Standard Theatre, 482 Queen Street West. (Toronto, Canada), 1906
Canada has developed a vigorous film industry that has produced a variety of well-known films, actors, and auteurs. In fact, this eclipsing may sometimes be creditable for the bizarre and innovative directions of the works of such auteurs as Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, 1997) and David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch, A History of Violence). Also, the distinct French-Canadian society permits the work of directors such as Denys Arcand and Denis Villeneuve. At the 76th Academy Awards Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions became Canada's first film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
A number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood significantly contributed to the creation of the motion picture industry in the early days of the 20th century. Over the years, many Canadians have made enormous contributions to the American entertainment industry, although they are frequently not recognized as Canadians.[33]
Canada's film industry is in full expansion as a site for Hollywood productions. Since the 1980s, Canada, and Vancouver in particular, has become known as Hollywood North. The American Queer as Folk was filmed in Toronto. Canadian producers have been very successful in the field of science fiction since the mid-1990s, with such shows as The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, the new Battlestar Galactica , Smallville, and The Outer Limits, all filmed in Vancouver. As with its southern counterpart in California, many Canadians are employed in the film industry, and celebrity-spotting is frequent throughout many Canadian cities.
Canadian television, especially supported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is the home of a variety of locally-produced shows. French-language television, like French Canadian film, is buffered from excessive American influence by the fact of language, and likewise supports a host of home-grown productions. The relative success of French-language domestic television and movies in Canada often exceeds that of its English-language counterpart.
The CRTC's Canadian content regulations dictate that a certain percentage of a domestic broadcaster's transmission time must include content that is produced by Canadians, or covers Canadian subjects. This also applies to US cable television channels such as MTV (MTV (Canada) and the Discovery Channel (Discovery Channel (Canada), which have local versions of their channels available on Canadian cable networks. Similarly, BBC Canada, while primarily showing BBC shows from the United Kingdom, also carries Canadian output.
The National Film Board of Canada,[34] is 'a public agency that produces and distributes films and other audiovisual works which reflect Canada to Canadians and the rest of the world'. The agency helped to pioneer the concept of the documentary. Canada has produced many popular documentaries such as The Corporation, Nanook of the North, Final Offer, and Canada: A People's History. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is considered by many to be one of the most prevalent film festivals for Western cinema. It is the première film festival in North America from which the Oscars race begins.[35]
[edit] Canadian humourMain article: Canadian humour
Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, Québec at the Saint-Denis Theatre.
Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian Identity. There are several traditions in Canadian humour in both English and French.[36][37] While these traditions are distinct and at times very different, there are common themes that relate to Canadians' shared history and geopolitical situation in North America and the world. Various trends can be noted in Canadian comedy. One thread is the portrayal of a "typical" Canadian family in an on-going radio or television series. Examples include La famille Plouffe, with its mix of drama, humour, politics and religion and sitcoms such as King of Kensington and La Petite Vie. Another major thread tends to be political and cultural satire: television shows such as CODCO, Royal Canadian Air Farce, La Fin du monde est à 7 heures and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, monologuists such as Yvon Deschamps and Rick Mercer and writers, including Michel Tremblay, Will Ferguson and Eric Nicol draw their inspiration from Canadian and Québécois society and politics. Another trend revels in absurdity, demonstrated by television series like The Kids in the Hall and The Frantics, and musician-comedians such as The Arrogant Worms, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie and Bowser and Blue. Satire is arguably the primary characteristic of Canadian humour, evident in each of these threads, and uniting various genres and regional cultural differences.
Humber College in Toronto and the École nationale de l'humour in Montreal offer post-secondary programmes in comedy writing and performance. Montreal is also home to the bilingual (English and French) Just for Laughs festival and to the Just for Laughs Museum, a bilingual, international museum of comedy.
[edit] SportSee also: Sport in Canada
A scene at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver seconds after Team Canada won gold in men's ice hockey.
The sporting culture of Canada is different from that of many other countries. Compared to any other nation, Canadians prefer a unique set of sports that are imported from the United States or home grown — namely football, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey. In Canada, football means Canadian football or what is sometimes called gridiron around the world.
Ice hockey, referred to as simply hockey in the country, is Canada's official winter sport,[38] its most popular spectator sport, and its most successful sport in international competition. Lacrosse, a sport with Aboriginal origins, is Canada's oldest sport and official summer sport.[38] Canadian football is Canada's second most popular spectator sport,[39] and the Canadian Football League's annual championship, the Grey Cup, is the country's largest annual sports event.[40] Association football, known in Canada as soccer in both English and French, has the most registered players of any sport in Canada, but has never enjoyed sustained popularity as a major professional spectator sport even though the last few years have showed an improvement in terms of popularity and media coverage.
Other popular team sports include curling, street hockey, cricket, rugby, soccer and softball. Currently, Cricket is the fastest growing sport in Canada.[41][42] Popular individual sports include auto racing, boxing, cycling, golf, hiking, horse racing, ice skating, rodeo, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, swimming, tennis, triathlon, track and field, water sports, and wrestling. As a country with a generally cool climate, Canada has enjoyed greater success at the Winter Olympics than at the Summer Olympics, although significant regional variations in climate allow for a wide variety of both team and individual sports. Major upcoming multi-sport events in Canada include the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Great achievements in Canadian sport are recognized by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, while the Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete by a panel of journalists.
[edit] Outside views
In 1984, Baron Moran, the British High Commissioner to Canada, stated that, in his opinion, Canadians have limited talents and are "deeply unimpressive." Said Moran, "Anyone who is even moderately good at what they do - in literature, the theater, skiing of whatever - tends to become a national figure. And anyone who stands out at all from the crowd tends to be praised to the skies and given the Order of Canada at once.[43]
A 2007 poll ranked Canada as the country with the most positive influence in the world. 28,000 people in 27 countries were asked to rate 12 countries as either having a positive or negative worldwide influence. Canada’s overall influence rating topped the list with 54 per cent of respondents rating it mostly positive and only 14 per cent mostly negative. [44]
[edit] See alsoCanada portal
Music of Canada portal
Book:Canada
Books are collections of articles which can be downloaded or ordered in print.
[edit] References1. ̂ National Film Board of Canada (2005). "Mandate of the National Film Board".
http://www.nfb.ca/atonf/organisation.php?v=h&lg=en. Retrieved 2006-03-15. 2. ̂ "Canada in the Making: Pioneers and Immigrants". The History Channel. 2005-
3. ̂ A Dialogue on Foreign Policy. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. 2003-01. pp. 15–16. http://www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca/pdf/DialogueEng.pdf. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
4. ̂ "Quebec". The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press. 2003. http://www.answers.com/topic/quebec-city-quebec. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
5. ̂ "American Civil war". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Founcation. 2003. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000174. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
6. ̂ Speakers of the Canadian House of Commons. Parliament of Canada. 2001. pp. 8–9.
7. ̂ "Multiculturalism in Canada". Mount Allison University. 2002-01-26. http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts/canadian_studies/english/about/multi/index.htm#policy. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
8. ̂ Marcia Wallace (1999). Planning Amidst Diversity: The Challenges of Multiculturalism in Urban and Suburban Greater Toronto. University of Waterloo. http://ceris.metropolis.net/Virtual%20Library/other/wallace1/chapt5.html. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
9. ̂ "A Newcomer’s Introduction to Canada". Citizenship and Immigration Canada. 2006-07-01. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomer/guide/section-07.html#6. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
10. ̂ B.A. Robinson (2005-11-20). "Same-Sex Marriages (SSM) in Canada". Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_marb0.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
11. ^ a b Woodcock, part I 12. ̂ Wolf, chapter 6 13. ̂ Department of Canadian Heritage 14. ̂ John Ralston Saul, Reflections of a Siames Twin: Canada at the End of the 20th
Century, Toronto: Viking Canada, 1997, p. 439 15. ̂ Philip Resnick, The European Roots of Canadian Identity, Peterborough:
16. ̂ Roy McGregor, Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People, Toronto: Viking Canada, 2007
17. ̂ Saul,Reflections of a Siamese Twin p. 8. 18. ̂ MacGregor, p.39 19. ̂ Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2007, p. 3, ISBN 978-0771021817 20. ̂ MacGregor, Canadians, at p. 40: "I've often thought myself that Canadians
ingeniously use this endless 'search' for identity as a handy excuse to wallow in their own self-righteousness--particularly at those moments when America has put the stuck-up Canadian nose out of joint. It could be construed as a sort of verbal party trick to turn the conversation around to oneself and all the comforting goodness of being Canadian
21. ̂ National Horse of Canada Act 22. ̂ The beaver 23. ̂ The Maple Leaf 24. ̂ Robert Fulford's column about the international success of Canadian literature 25. ̂ Music in Canada 1600-1800. by Amtmann, Willy. Cambridge, Ont. : Habitex
Books, 1975. 320 p.(ISBN 088912020X) 26. ̂ La Musique au Québec 1600-1875. by Michelle Pharand. Montreal: Les
Éditions de l'Homme (1976) (ISBN 0775905178) 27. ̂ Music in Canada: A Research and Information Guide, Carl Morey. New York:
Garland Publishing, 1997 28. ̂ "The history of broadcasting in Canada". The Canadian Communications
Foundation. http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/timeline/CCFTimeline.html. 29. ̂ Profiles of Canada. edited by Kenneth G. Pryke, Walter C. Soderlund. Boulder,
Colo. : NetLibrary, 2000.(ISBN 058527925X) 30. ̂ "History of Canada in music". Historica Foundation of Canada.
31. ̂ Canadian Music: Issues of Hegemony & Identity, eds Beveley Diamond & Robert Witmer. Canadian Scholars Press, 1994.
32. ̂ Edmonton Fringe sets box-office record 33. ̂ * Charles Foster, Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood, 2000,
page27- 34 ISBN 1-55002-348-9 34. ̂ NFB official site 35. ̂ Toronto International Film Festival 36. ̂ Scobie, Stephen "Humourous Writing in English". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Retrieved on: April 23, 2010. 37. ̂ Lacombe, Michelle "Humourous Writing in French". The Canadian
Encyclopedia. Retrieved on: April 23, 2010. 38. ^ a b "National Sports of Canada Act (1994)". Consolidated Statutes and
Regulations. Department of Justice. http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/N-16.7/251603.html. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
39. ̂ Canadian Press (2006-06-08). "Survey: Canadian interest in pro football is on the rise". Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060608.wsurvey8/BNStory/Sports/home. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
40. ̂ William Houston (2006-12-20). "Grey Cup moves to TSN in new deal". The Globe And Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061220.wsptcfl20/GSStory/GlobeSportsFootball/GlobeSports/?query=. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
41. ̂ Canadian Cricket Heritage Fund 42. ̂ Support for Cricket Across the Pond 43. ̂ (Associated Press), "Letters reveal candid views of UK diplomats", WTOP,
October 18, 2009. 44. ̂ http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-a-good-influence-on-the-world.html
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Politics of Pakistan
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Pakistan
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government ofPakistan
Constitution[show]President [show] Federal government [show] Parliament [show] Judiciary[show]
Political parties [show] Elections [show]
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Recently the Politics of Pakistan (Urdu: پاِک�ستان سیاست ) has taken place in the framework of a federal republic, where the system of government has at times been parliamentary, presidential, or semi-presidential. In the current parliamentary system, the President of Pakistan is the largely-ceremonial head of state, the Prime Minister is head of government, and there is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is largely vested in the Parliament.
3 Political parties and elections o 3.1 Composition of Parliament (As per Results of the 2008 General
Elections) 4 Judicial branch
o 4.1 Supreme Court o 4.2 Provincial & High Courts o 4.3 Mohtasib
5 Political background 6 Form of Government
o 6.1 Provincial Governments o 6.2 Local Governments
7 Foreign relations 8 See also 9 References
10 External links
[edit] Executive branchMain office holders
Office Name Party SincePresident Asif Ali Zardari PPP 9 September 2008Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani PPP March 25, 2008
Pakistan has been under the influence of its military almost since it was founded. The Intelligence agencies have a huge role in the politics since the beginning[dubious – discuss] in making and breaking the political parties. The president, in keeping with the constitutional provision that the state religion is Islam, must be a Muslim. Elected for a five-year term by an Electoral College consisting of members of the Senate and National Assembly and members of the provincial assemblies, the president is eligible for reelection. But no individual may hold the office for more than two consecutive terms. The president may resign or be impeached and may be removed from office for incapacity or gross misconduct by a two-thirds vote of the members of the parliament. The president generally acts on the advice of the prime minister but has important residual powers.
One of the most important of these powers—a legacy of Zia—is the president's power to dissolve the National Assembly "in his discretion where, in has arisen in which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of
the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary." This power has twice been granted —by the Eighth Amendment in 1985 and by the Seventeenth Amendment in 2003—and has twice been revoked—by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1997 and by the Eighteenth Amendment in 2010. Despite this most recent power-stripping, the President remains the ex officio chair of the National Security Council, as per the National Security Act 2004.
The prime minister is appointed by the members of the National Assembly through a vote. The prime minister is assisted by the Federal Cabinet, a council of ministers whose members are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The Federal Cabinet comprises the ministers, ministers of state, and advisers. As of early 1994, there were thirty-three ministerial portfolios: commerce; communications; culture; defence; defence production; education; environment; finance and economic affairs; food and agriculture; foreign affairs; health; housing; information and broadcasting; interior; Kashmiri affairs and Northern Areas; law and justice; local government; minority affairs; narcotics control; parliamentary affairs; petroleum and natural resources production; planning and development; railways; religious affairs; science and technology; social welfare; special education; sports; state and frontier regions; tourism; water and power; women's development; and youth affairs.
[edit] Legislative Branch
The bicameral federal legislature consists of the Senate (upper house) and National Assembly (lower house). According to Article 50 of the Constitution, the National Assembly, the Senate and the President together make up a body known as the Majlis-i-Shoora (Council of Advisers).
Pakistan's democracy has no recall method. However, past governments have been dismissed for corruption by the President's invocation of Article 58 of the Constitution. The President's power to dismiss the Prime Minister and dissolve the National Assembly was removed by the Thirteenth Amendment and partially restored by the Seventeenth Amendment.
The Senate is a permanent legislative body with equal representation from each of the four provinces, elected by the members of their respective provincial assemblies. There are representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and from Islamabad Capital Territory. The chairman of the Senate, under the constitution, is next in line to act as president should the office become vacant and until such time as a new president can be formally elected. Both the Senate and the National Assembly can initiate and pass legislation except for finance bills. Only the National Assembly can approve the federal budget and all finance bills. In the case of other bills, the president may prevent passage unless the legislature in joint sitting overrules the president by a majority of members of both houses present and voting. Unlike the National Assembly, the Senate cannot be dissolved by the President.
[edit] National Assembly
Members of the National Assembly are elected by universal adult suffrage (formerly twenty-one years of age and older but the seventeenth amendment changed it to eighteen years of age.). Seats are allocated to each of the four provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Islamabad Capital Territory on the basis of population. National Assembly members serve for the parliamentary term, which is five years, unless they die or resign sooner, or unless the National Assembly is dissolved. Although the vast majority of the members are Muslim, about 5 percent of the seats are reserved for minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs. Elections for minority seats are held on the basis of separate electorates at the same time as the polls for Muslim seats during the general elections. There are also 50+ special seats for women now, and women are selected (i.e. not directly elected in the general election but given representation according to how their parties performed in the general election) on these seat by their party head: another seventeenth amendment innovation.
[edit] Political parties and electionsFor other political parties see List of political parties in Pakistan. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Pakistan.
[edit] Composition of Parliament (As per Results of the 2008 General Elections)
Parties Votes %Elected seats
Reserved seats
(Women)
Reserved seats (Minorities)
Total
Pakistan Peoples Party 10,606,486 30.6% 94 23 4 130Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Awami National Party 700,479 2.0% 10 3 0 13Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan
Jamiat Ulema- e-Islam (F)
Note: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan and Jamiat Ahle Hadith did not participate.
772,798 2.2% 5 1 0 6
Pakistan Muslim League (F)
4 1 0 5
Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao)
140,707 0.4% 1 0 0 1
National Peoples Party 1 0 0 1Balochistan National Party (Awami)
1 0 0 1
Independents 18 0 0 18Total 34,665,978 100% 266 60 10 336Source: Election Commission of Pakistan, Adam Carr's Electoral Archive
[edit] Judicial branch
The judiciary includes the Supreme Court, provincial high courts, and other lesser courts exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction.
[edit] Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has original, appellate, and advisory jurisdiction. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the president; the other Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president after consultation with the chief justice. The chief justice and judges of the Supreme Court may remain in office until age sixty-five: now 68 years and this is also another clause of seventeenth amendment.
[edit] Provincial & High Courts
Judges of the provincial high courts are appointed (The seventeenth amendment give these powers to the president, previously Prime minister exercised them) by the president after consultation with the chief justice of the Supreme Court, as well as the governor of the province and the chief justice of the high court to which the appointment is being made. High courts have original and appellate jurisdiction.
There is also a Federal Shariat Court consisting of eight Muslim judges, including a chief justice appointed by the president. Three of the judges are ulama, that is, Islamic
Scholars, and are well versed in Islamic law. The Federal Shariat Court has original and appellate jurisdiction. This court decides whether any law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam. When a law is deemed repugnant to Islam, the president, in the case of a federal law, or the governor, in the case of a provincial law, is charged with taking steps to bring the law into conformity with the injunctions of Islam. The court also hears appeals from decisions of criminal courts under laws relating to the enforcement of hudud (see Glossary) laws that is, laws pertaining to such offences as intoxication, theft, and unlawful sexual intercourse.
In addition, there are special courts and tribunals to deal with specific kinds of cases, such as drug courts, commercial courts, labour courts, traffic courts, an insurance appellate tribunal, an income tax appellate tribunal, and special courts for bank offences. There are also special courts to try terrorists. Appeals from special courts go to high courts except for labour and traffic courts, which have their own forums for appeal. Appeals from the tribunals go to the Supreme Court.
[edit] Mohtasib
A further feature of the judicial system is the office of Mohtasib (Ombudsman), which is provided for in the constitution. The office of Mohtasib was established in many early Muslim states to ensure that no wrongs were done to citizens. Appointed by the president, the Mohtasib holds office for four years; the term cannot be extended or renewed. The Mohtasib's purpose is to institutionalize a system for enforcing administrative accountability, through investigating and rectifying any injustice done to a person through maladministration by a federal agency or a federal government official. The Mohtasib is empowered to award compensation to those who have suffered loss or damage as a result of maladministration. Excluded from jurisdiction, however, are personal grievances or service matters of a public servant as well as matters relating to foreign affairs, national defence, and the armed services. This institution is designed to bridge the gap between administrator and citizen, to improve administrative processes and procedures, and to help curb misuse of discretionary powers.
[edit] Political background
Pakistan has been ruled by both democratic and military governments.[1] The first decade was marred with political unrest and instability resulting in frequent collapses of civilian democratic governments. From 1947 to 1958 as many as seven Prime Ministers of Pakistan either resigned or were ousted. This political instability paved the way for Pakistan’s first military take over. On October 7, 1958 Pakistan’s civilian and first President Iskander Mirza in collaboration with General Mohammad Ayub Khan abrogated Pakistan’s constitution and declared Martial Law.
General Ayub Khan was the president from 1958 to 1969, and General Yahya Khan from 1969 to 1971, Justice Khan Habibullah Khan Marwat elected first & second Chairman Senate of Pakistan several times Mr. Khan Sahib acted as a President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the first civilian martial law administrator.
Civilian, yet autocratic, rule continued from 1972 to 1977 under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but he was deposed by General Zia-Ul-Haq. General Zia was killed in a plane crash in 1988, after which Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was the youngest woman ever to be elected the Head of Government and the first woman to be elected as the Head of Government of a Muslim country. Her government was followed by that of Nawaz Sharif, and the two leaders alternated until the military coup by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Since the resignation of President Rafiq Tarar in 2001, Musharraf has been the President of Pakistan.
Nation-wide parliamentary elections were held in October 2002, with the PML-Q winning a plurality of seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan, and Zafarullah Khan Jamali of that party emerging as Prime Minister. Jamali resigned on June 26, 2004. PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain became interim PM, and was succeeded by Finance Minister and former Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz, who was elected Prime Minister on August 27, 2004 by a National Assembly vote of 191 to 151.
In the October 2002 general elections, the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) won a plurality of National Assembly seats with the second-largest group being the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), a sub-party of the PPP. Zafarullah Khan Jamali of PML-Q emerged as Prime Minister but resigned on 26 June 2004 and was replaced by PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as interim Prime Minister. On 28 August 2004 the National Assembly voted 191 to 151 to elect the Finance Minister and former Citibank Vice President Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of Islamic religious parties, won elections in North-West Frontier Province, and increased their representation in the National Assembly - until their defeat in the 2008 elections.
The Pakistan's federal cabinet on April 12, 2006 decided that general elections would be held after the completion of the assemblies constitutional term by the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008.[2]
[edit] Form of Government
Officially a federal republic, Pakistan has had a long history of alternating periods of electoral democracy and authoritarian military government. Military presidents include General Ayub Khan in the 1960s, General Zia ul Haq in the 1980s, and General Pervez Musharraf from 1999. However, a majority of Pakistan's Heads of State and Heads of Government have been elected civilian leaders. General elections were held in October 2002. After monitoring the elections, the Commonwealth Observer Group stated in conclusion:
We believe that on election day this was a credible election: the will of the people was expressed and the results reflected their wishes. However, in the context of various measures taken by the government we are not persuaded of the overall fairness of the process as a whole. [3]
On May 22, 2004, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group re-admitted Pakistan into the Commonwealth, formally acknowledging its progress in returning to democracy.
[edit] Provincial Governments
The subdivisions of Pakistan
Pakistan is subdivided into 4 provinces, 1 territory, and 1 capital territory. Each province has a Provincial Assembly, a directly-elected legislature. Members are elected for five-year terms. Each Assembly elects a Chief Minister, who then selects the ministers of his or her cabinet.
Balochistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas * Islamabad Capital Territory ** North-West Frontier Province Punjab Sindh
Note; the Pakistani-administered portion of the disputed Kashmir region includes Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas.
See also: Government of Pakistan
[edit] Local Governments
Pakistan's provinces are divided into zillas ( counterpart to a county in US or UK terminology). A zilla is further subdivided into tehsils (roughly equivalent to a borough in an integrated multi-tier (federated) systemic context, such as the one to be found in Montreal (Canada, 2002) and Birmingham (UK, 2001 announcement) or known as arrondissements in French context. Tehsils may contain villages or municipalities. Pakistan's system is the one that applies an integrated federated systemic framework most comprehensively, so far.
This methodology is not new to the region, as it is similar to what is referred to as the Panchayat Raj system in India that was introduced by Britain (which was first nation (1890s) to adapt revolutionary Paris (1790) framework to implement a 3-tier rural version (county, district, parish councils) by grafting the 2-tier Paris framework on pre-existing parish councils and urban context (London)) during colonial era. In India it was implemented in some regions and not others; and then allowed to lie fallow. It got new life after the very successful West Bengal revival in the 1970s, which eventually inspired the 1990s Constitutional Amendment making it national policy.
The main difference is that Pakistan is the only country with an urban framework, as well, in the region today; and Pakistan's system has common-representational framework between tiers (as Montreal and Birmingham also have in 2-tier context—even though Birmingham is working on implementing a 3- tier system); and, it has a bottom-up representational framework like the Canadian example. Pakistan had the only 3-tier integrated bottom-up common-representational local government system, until it was adapted for another country in 2003. UK, the country which first introduced this methodology in the region, also has the urban examples of London and Birmingham (being implemented in Post- 2001 era by building on steps first introduced in 1980s); as does France (where largest cities and smaller units have created such frameworks either by devolution (Marseilles and Lyon, in addition to Paris) or by integration of neighbouring units (such as the Nantes region pursuant to the Marcellin Act of 1970s); and, Canada.
This methodology is being increasingly adapted, as it delivers greater systemic productivity, being a more inclusive framework that provides greater regional integration. In the US, the 7 county Twin Cities (MN) regional system and Portland (OR) Metro are both the most integrated US examples;but, also those often cited in the US for what they have achieved. These US examples- with their multi-county framework- are similar to what is in place in France after regional unit introduction (making France have a 3-tier systemic framework also in the Commune (municipal/lowest tier local unit), Department(county), Regional unit context). Multi-county frameworks are suitable for a very suburbanized system like in the US. After France and Britain, the Indian colony of Britain was the third region to see this methodology implemented.
There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Since 2001, the vast majority of these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each headed by a Nazim (mayor or supervisor.) Council elections are held every four years.
[edit] Foreign relationsMain article: Foreign relations of Pakistan
Pakistan is the second largest Muslim country in terms of population, and its status as a declared nuclear power, being the only Muslim nation to have that status, plays a part in its international role. It is also an active member of the United Nations. Historically, its foreign policy has encompassed difficult relations with India, a desire for a stable Afghanistan, long-standing close relations with the People's Republic of China, extensive security and economic interests in the Persian Gulf and wide-ranging bilateral relations with the United States and other Western countries. Pakistan is also an important member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Pakistan has used the OIC as a forum for Enlightened Moderation,[4] its plan to promote a renaissance and enlightenment in the Islamic world.
Wary of Soviet expansion, Pakistan had strong relations with both the United States of America and the People's Republic of China during much of the Cold War. It was a member of the CENTO and SEATO military alliances. Its alliance with the United States was especially close after the Soviets invaded the neighbouring country of Afghanistan.
In 1964, Pakistan signed the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) Pact with Turkey and Iran, when all three countries were closely allied with the U.S., and as neighbours of the Soviet Union, wary of perceived Soviet expansionism. To this day, Pakistan has a close relationship with Turkey. RCD became defunct after the Iranian Revolution, and a Pakistani-Turkish initiative led to the founding of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) in 1985. Pakistan's relations with India have improved recently and this has opened up Pakistan's foreign policy to issues beyond security. This development might completely change the complexion of Pakistan's foreign relations.
Pakistan joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1979.[5]
4. ̂ President Musharraf on Enlightened Moderation 5. ̂ Pakistan: A Country Study, "The United States and the West"
[edit] External links Pakistan Government at the Open Directory Project Government of Pakistan Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Essay on democracy in Pakistan by Professor Adil Najam of Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
[show] v • d • e
Pakistan topics
[show] v • d • e
Politics of Asia
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Politics of the People's Republic of China
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People's Republic of China
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government ofthe People's Republic of China
Constitution [show] Ideology[show]
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The politics of the People's Republic of China take place in a framework of a single-party socialist republic. The leadership of the Communist Party is stated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. State power within the People's Republic of China (PRC) is exercised through the Communist Party of China, the Central People's Government and their provincial and local counterparts. Under the dual leadership system, each local bureau or office is under the theoretically coequal authority of the local leader and the leader of the corresponding office, bureau or ministry at the next higher level. People's Congress members at the county level are elected by voters. These county level People's Congresses have the responsibility of oversight of local government, and elect members to the Provincial (or Municipal in the case of independent municipalities) People's Congress. The Provincial People's Congress in turn elects members to the National People's Congress that meets each year in March in Beijing.[1] The ruling Communist Party committee at each level plays a large role in the selection of appropriate candidates for election to the local congress and to the higher levels.
1 Overview 2 Communist Party 3 Government 4 Administrative divisions 5 Local government 6 People's Liberation Army 7 State leaders
o 7.1 Government leaders o 7.2 Politburo Standing Committee o 7.3 Full Politburo members
8 Political parties and elections 9 Legal system 10 Nationality 11 Ethnic affairs 12 Foreign relations 13 International disputes
o 13.1 Territorial disputes 14 International organization participation 15 See also 16 References
17 External links
[edit] Overview
The PRC's population, geographical vastness, and social diversity frustrate attempts to rule from Beijing. Economic reform during the 1980s and the devolution of much central government decision making, combined with the strong interest of local Communist Party officials in enriching themselves, has made it increasingly difficult for the central government to assert its authority.[2] Political power has become much less personal and more institutionally based than it was during the first forty years of the PRC. For example, Deng Xiaoping was never the President of China or Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, yet he was for a decade the leader of China. Today the authority of China's leaders are much more tied to their institutional base.
Central government leaders must increasingly build consensus for new policies among party members, local and regional leaders, influential non-party members, and the population at large.[3] However, control is often maintained over the larger group through control of information. The Chinese Communist Party considers China to be in the initial stages of socialism. Many Chinese and foreign observers see the PRC as in transition from a system of public ownership to one in which private ownership plays an increasingly important role. Privatization of housing and increasing freedom to make choices about education and employment severely weakened the work unit system that
was once the basic cell of Communist Party control over society. China's complex political, ethnic and ideological mosaic, much less uniform beneath the surface than in the idealized story of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, resist simple categorization.[4]
As the social, cultural and political as well as economic consequences of market reform become increasingly manifest, tensions between the old—the way of the comrade—and the new—the way of the citizen—are sharpening. Some Chinese scholars such as Zhou Tianyong, the vice director of research of the Central Party School, argue that gradual political reform as well as repression of those pushing for overly rapid change over the next thirty years will be essential if China is to avoid an overly turbulent transition to a middle class dominated polity.[5][6] Some Chinese look back to the Cultural Revolution and fear chaos if the Communist Party should lose control due to domestic upheavals and so a robust system of monitoring and control is in place to counter the growing pressure for political change.
[edit] Communist PartyMain article: Communist Party of China
The more than 73 million-member[7] Communist Party of China (CPC) continues to dominate government. In periods of relative liberalisation, the influence of people and organisations outside the formal party structure has tended to increase, particularly in the economic realm. Under the command economy system, every state owned enterprise was required to have a party committee. The introduction of the market economy means that economic institutions now exist in which the party has limited or no power.
Nevertheless, in all governmental institutions in the PRC, the party committees at all levels maintain an important role.
Central party control is tightest in central government offices and in urban economic, industrial, and cultural settings; it is considerably looser over government and party organizations in rural areas, where the majority of China's people live. Their most important responsibility comes in the selection and promotion of personnel. They also see that party and state policy guidance is followed and that non-party members do not create autonomous organizations that could challenge party rule. Particularly important are the leading small groups which coordinate activities of different agencies. Although there is a convention that government committees contain at least one non-party member, a party membership is a definite aid in promotion and in being in crucial policy setting meetings.
Theoretically, the party's highest body is the Party Congress, which is supposed to meet at least once every 5 years. Meetings became irregular during the Cultural Revolution but have been periodic since then. The party elects the Central Committee and the primary organs of power are formally parts of the central committee.
The primary organs of power in the Communist Party include:
The Politburo Standing Committee, which currently consists of nine members; The Politburo, consisting of 22 full members (including the members of the
Politburo Standing Committee); The Secretariat, the principal administrative mechanism of the CPC, headed by
the General Secretary; The Central Military Commission; The Central Discipline Inspection Commission, which is charged with rooting out
corruption and malfeasance among party cadres.
[edit] GovernmentMain article: Government of the People's Republic of China
The primary organs of state power are the National People's Congress (NPC), the President, and the State Council. Members of the State Council include the Premier, a variable number of vice premiers (now four), five state councilors (protocol equal of vice premiers but with narrower portfolios), and 29 ministers and heads of State Council commissions. During the 1980s there was an attempt made to separate party and state functions, with the party deciding general policy and the state carrying it out. The attempt was abandoned in the 1990s with the result that the political leadership within the state are also the leaders of the party, thereby creating a single centralized locus of power.
At the same time, there has been a convention that party and state offices be separated at levels other than the central government, and it is unheard of for a sub-national executive to also be party secretary. Conflict has been often known to develop between the chief executive and the party secretary, and this conflict is widely seen as intentional to prevent either from becoming too dominant. Some special cases are the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau where the Communist Party does not function at all as part of the governmental system, and the autonomous regions where, following Soviet practice, the chief executive is typically a member of the local ethnic group while the party general secretary is non-local and usually Han Chinese.
Under the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the NPC is the highest organ of state power in China. It meets annually for about 2 weeks to review and approve major new policy directions, laws, the budget, and major personnel changes. Most national legislation in China is adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Most initiatives are presented to the NPCSC for consideration by the State Council after previous endorsement by the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee. Although the NPC generally approves State Council policy and personnel recommendations, the NPC and its standing committee has increasingly asserted its role as the national legislature and has been able to force revisions in some laws. For example, the State Council and the Party have been unable to secure passage of a fuel tax to finance the construction of freeways.
[edit] Administrative divisionsSee also: Political divisions of ChinaPolitical divisions Provinces (省)
†Taiwan is claimed by the PRC but administered by the Republic of China
Autonomous regions (自治区)
Municipalities (直辖市)
Special Administ
rativeRegions (特别行政区)
Guangxi (广西壮族自治区)
Inner Mongolia (内蒙古自治区)
Ningxia (宁夏回族自治区)
Xinjiang (新疆维吾尔自治区)
Tibet (西藏自治区)
Beijing (北京市) Chongqing (重庆市)
Shanghai (上海市)
Tianjin (天津市)
Hong Kong (香港特別行政區)
Macau (澳門特別行政區)
[edit] Local government
Currently, local government in the People's Republic of China is structured in a hierarchy on four different levels. With the village being the grassroots (usually a hundred or so families), and not considered part of the hierarchy, local government advances through the township, county, prefecture or municipality, and the province as the geographical area of jurisdiction increases. Each level in the hierarchy is responsible for overseeing the work carried out by lower levels on the administrative strata. At each level are two important officials. A figure that represents the Communist Party of China, colloquially termed the Party chief or the Party Secretary, acts as the policy maker. This figure is
appointed by their superiors. The head of the local People's Government, is, in theory, elected by the people. Usually called a governor, mayor, or magistrate, depending on the level, this figure acts to carry out the policies and most ceremonial duties. The distinction has evolved into a system where the Party Secretary is always in precedence above the leader of the People's Government.
After Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978 greater autonomy has been given to provinces in terms of economic policy implementation as well as other areas of policy such as education and transportation. As a result, some provincial authorities have evolved tendencies of operating on a de facto federal system with Beijing. Prominent examples of greater autonomy are seen in the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang, where local leaders do little to adhere to the strict standards issued by the Central Government, especially economic policy. In addition, conflicts have arisen in the relations of the central Party leaders with the few provincial-level Municipalities, most notably the municipal government of Shanghai and the rivalry of former Beijing mayor Chen Xitong with President Jiang Zemin. The removal of Shanghai Municipality Party Secretary Chen Liangyu in September 2006 is the latest example.
China's system of autonomous regions and autonomous prefectures within provinces are formally intended to provide for greater autonomy by the ethnic group majority that inhabits the region. In practice, however, Beijing will often appoint loyal party cadres (almost always a Han Chinese) to oversee the local work as Party secretary, while the ethnic Chairman of the region's government is regarded as its nominal head. Power rests with the Party secretary. To avoid the solidification of local loyalties during a cadre's term in office, the central government freely and frequently transfers party cadres around different regions of the country, so a high ranking cadre's career might include service as governor or party secretary of several different provinces.
[edit] People's Liberation ArmyMain article: People's Liberation Army
The Communist Party of China created and leads the People’s Liberation Army. After the PRC established in 1949, the PLA also became a state military. The state military system inherited and upholds the principle of the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s armed forces. The Party and the State jointly established the Central Military Commission that carries out the task of supreme military leadership over the armed forces.
The 1954 PRC Constitution provides that the State President directs [tongshuai 统帅] the armed forces and made the State President the chair of the Defense Commission (the Defense Commission is an advisory body, it does not lead the armed forces). On September 28, 1954, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party re-established the Central Military Commission as the leader of the PLA and the people’s armed forces. From that time onwards, the system of joint system of Party and state military leadership was established. The Central Committee of the Communist Party
leads in all military affairs. The State President directs the state military forces and the development of the military forces managed by the State Council[8].
In December 1982, the fifth National People’s Congress revised the State Constitution to provide that the State Central Military Commission leads all the armed forces of the state. The chair of the State CMC is chosen and removed by the full NPC while the other members are chosen by the NPC Standing Committee. However, the CMC of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China remained the Party organization that directly leads the military and all the other armed forces. In actual practice, the Party CMC, after consultation with the democratic parties, proposes the names of the State CMC members of the NPC so that these people after going through the legal processes can be elected by the NPC to the State Central Military Commission. That is to say, that the CMC of the Central Committee and the CMC of the State are one group and one organization. However, looking at it organizationally, these two CMCs are subordinate to two different systems – the Party system and the State system. Therefore the armed forces are under the absolute leadership of the Communist Party and are also the armed forces of the state. This is a uniquely Chinese system that ensures the joint leadership of the Communist Party and the state over the armed forces.[8]
[edit] State leadersSee also: Paramount leader, Political position ranking of PRC, Politburo of the Communist Party of China, and Generations of Chinese leadership
[edit] Government leaders
Main office holdersOffice Name Party Since
President Hu Jintao Communist Party of ChinaMarch 15, 2003
Vice President Xi Jinping Communist Party of ChinaMarch 15, 2008
Premier of the State Council Wen Jiabao Communist Party of ChinaMarch 15, 2003
Vice Premiers Li KeqiangHui LiangyuZhang DejiangWang Qishan
Communist Party of China March 15, 2008
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC
Wu Bangguo Communist Party of ChinaMarch 15, 2003
Vice-Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the NPC
Wang ZhaoguoLu YongxiangWuyunqimugeHan QideHua JianminChen ZhiliZhou Tienong
Communist Party of ChinaRevolutionary Committee of Chinese KuomintangChinese Democratic LeagueChina National Democratic Construction AssociationChina Association for
Li JianguoSimayi·TieliwardiJiang ShushengChen ChangzhiYan JunqiSang Guowei
Promoting DemocracyChinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic PartyChina Zhi Gong DangJiu San SocietyTaiwan Democratic Self-Government Leaguenonparty personage
The President and vice president are elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms. The State Council is appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC).
[edit] Politburo Standing Committee
Hu Jintao (General Secretary) Wu Bangguo Wen Jiabao Jia Qinglin Li Changchun Xi Jinping Li Keqiang He Guoqiang Zhou Yongkang
[edit] Full Politburo members
Xi Jinping , Top-ranked Secretary of CPC Secretariat, Vice-President Wang Gang , Vice-Chair of CPPCC Wang Lequan , Party chief of Xinjiang Autonomous Region Wang Zhaoguo , Vice-Chairman of National People's Congress Wang Qishan , Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu , Vice-Premier Liu Qi , Party chief of Beijing, head of Beijing Olympics organizing committee Liu Yunshan , Secretary in CPC Central Secretariat, Media and Communications
minister Liu Yandong , First State Councilor Li Changchun , Propaganda chief Li Keqiang , First Vice-Premier Li Yuanchao , Secretary in CPC Central Secretariat, CPC Organization
Department head Wu Bangguo , Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress Wang Yang , Party chief of Guangdong Zhang Gaoli , Party chief of Tianjin Zhang Dejiang , Vice-Premier Zhou Yongkang , Head of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee
Hu Jintao , General Secretary, President, Central Military Commission Chairman Yu Zhengsheng , Party chief of Shanghai He Guoqiang , Head of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Jia Qinglin , head of the People's Political Consultative Conference Xu Caihou , Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission Guo Boxiong , Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission Wen Jiabao , Premier of the State Council Bo Xilai , Party chief of Chongqing
[edit] Political parties and electionsFor other political parties see List of political parties in the People's Republic of China. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in the People's Republic of China.
No substantial legal political opposition groups exist, and the country is mainly run by the Communist Party of China (CPC), but there are other political parties in the PRC, called "democratic parties", which participate in the People's Political Consultative Conference but mostly serve to endorse CPC policies. While there have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested People's Congress elections are now held at the village and town levels,[9] and that legislatures have shown some assertiveness from time to time, the party retains effective control over governmental appointments. This is because the CPC wins by default in most electorates. [10] The CPC has been enforcing its rule by clamping down on political dissidents while simultaneously attempting to reduce dissent by improving the economy and allowing public expression of people's personal grievances, provided that it is not within the agenda of any organisation. Current political concerns in China include lessening the growing gap between rich and poor, and fighting corruption within the government leadership.[11] The support that the Communist Party of China has among the Chinese population in general is unclear because national elections are mostly CPC dominated[12], as there are no opposition political parties and independent candidates elected into office are too scattered and disorganized to realistically challenge CPC rule. Also, private conversations and anecdotal information often reveal conflicting views. However, according to a survey conducted in Hong Kong, where a relatively high level of freedom is enjoyed, the current CPC leaders have received substantial votes of support when its residents were asked to rank their favourite Chinese leaders from Mainland and Taiwan.[13]
The eight registered minor parties have existed since before 1950. These parties all formally accept the leadership of the Communist Party of China and their activities are directed by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese communist party. Their original function was to create the impression that New China was ruled by a wide national front, not a one-party dictatorship. The major role of these parties is to attract and subsequently muzzle niches in society that have political tendencies, such as the academia. Although these parties are tightly organized and do not challenge the Communist Party, members of the parties often individually are found in policy making state organizations, and there is a convention that state institutions generally have at least one sinecure from a minor political party.
The minor parties include the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Guomindang, founded in 1948 by dissident members of the mainstream Kuomintang then under control of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek; China Democratic League, begun in 1941 by intellectuals in education and the arts; China Democratic National Construction Association, formed in 1945 by educators and national capitalists (industrialists and business people); China Association for Promoting Democracy, started in 1945 by intellectuals in cultural, education (primary and secondary schools), and publishing circles; Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party, originated in 1930 by intellectuals in medicine, the arts, and education; China Party for Public Interest (China Zhi Gong Dang), founded in 1925 to attract the support of overseas Chinese; Jiusan Society, founded in 1945 by a group of college professors and scientists to commemorate the victory of the "international war against fascism" on September 3; and Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, created in 1947 by "patriotic supporters of democracy who originated in Taiwan and now reside on the mainland."
Coordination between the 8 registered minor parties and the Communist Party of China is done through the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference which meets annually in Beijing in March at about the same time that the National People's Congress meets.
In addition, there are a few minor parties which are either unrecognized or actively suppressed by the government, such as the China Democracy Party and China New Democracy Party, which are deemed to be politically subversive. Due to the censorship and suppression, they mostly have their headquarters outside of the Chinese mainland.[14]
[edit] Legal systemMain article: Law of the People's Republic of China
The Chinese legal code is a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely focused on criminal law, though a rudimentary civil code has been in effect since January 1, 1987 and new legal codes have been in effect since January 1, 1980. Continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law.
The government's efforts to promote rule of law are significant and ongoing. After the Cultural Revolution, the PRC's leaders aimed to develop a legal system to restrain abuses of official authority and revolutionary excesses. In 1982, the National People's Congress adopted a new state constitution that emphasized the concept of rule of law by which party and state organizations are all subject to the law. (The importance of the rule of law was further elevated by a 1999 Constitutional amendment.) Many commentators have pointed out that the emphasis on rule of law increases rather than decreases the power of the Communist Party of China because the party, in its position of power, is in a better position to change the law to suit its own needs.
Since 1979, when the drive to establish a functioning legal system began, more than 301 laws and regulations, most of them in the economic area, have been promulgated. (After China's entry into the WTO, many new economically-related laws have been put in place,
while others have been amended.) The use of mediation committees - informed groups of citizens who resolve about 90% of the PRC's civil disputes and some minor criminal cases at no cost to the parties - is one innovative device. There are more than 800,000 such committees in both rural and urban areas.
Legal reform became a government priority in the 1990s. Legislation designed to modernize and professionalize the nation's lawyers, judges, and prisons was enacted. The 1994 Administrative Procedure Law allows citizens to sue officials for abuse of authority or malfeasance. In addition, the criminal law and the criminal procedures laws were amended to introduce significant reforms. The criminal law amendments abolished the crime of "counter-revolutionary" activity (and references to "counter-revolutionaries" disappeared with the passing of the 1999 Constitutional amendment), while criminal procedures reforms encouraged establishment of a more transparent, adversarial trial process. The PRC Constitution and laws provide for fundamental human rights, including due process, although those laws also provide for limitations of those rights.
Although the human rights situation in mainland China has improved markedly since the 1960s (the 2004 Constitutional amendments specifically stressed that the State protects human rights), the government remains authoritarian and determined to prevent any organized opposition to its rule such as Tibetan and Xinjiang separatists. Amnesty International estimates that the PRC holds several thousand political prisoners. Although illegal, there have been reports of torture by civil authorities.
According to Amnesty International between 1500 and 2000 people are reported executed in mainland China each year. However, some human rights activists believe that not all executions are reported with some estimates of the number of actual executions as high as 15,000. Public sentiment, however, appears to be overwhelmingly in support of the death penalty in response to a perception that crime is a serious problem.
[edit] Nationality
In general, naturalisation or the obtainance of People's Republic of China nationality is difficult. The Nationality Law prescribes only three conditions for the obtainance of PRC nationality (marriage to a PRC national is one, permanent residence is another).
Citizens of the People's Republic of China, according to law, are not permitted to hold multiple citizenship. If foreign nationality is granted to the PRC citizen, he or she loses Chinese nationality automatically. If the citizen then wishes to resume PRC nationality, the foreign nationality is no longer recognised.
[edit] Ethnic affairs
The PRC officially describes itself as a multiethnic state providing ethnic autonomy in the form of autonomous administrative entities in accordance with Section 6 of Chapter 3 (Articles 111-122) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and with more detail under the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy.
By law, ethnic minorities receive advantages in areas such as population control, school admissions, government employment, and military recruitment. The PRC also condemns Han chauvinism, referring to all 56 official nationalities as equal members of the Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu). While some people inside and outside China view the policies as assuaging some of the grievances of the minorities and encouraging them to take a fuller role in the PRC, many Han Chinese see the PRC policy as being overly favorable to ethnic minorities.
The PRC faces independence movements in Tibet, Xinjiang, and to a lesser degree, Inner Mongolia. Many[who?] Tibetans and Uyghurs consider their territories countries in their own rights, and resent Chinese rule as colonialism[citation needed]. As such, independence groups and many foreign observers are critical of the PRC's ethnic policies, considering reality to be markedly different from the image presented by the PRC. For example, Han Chinese have been moving into Xinjiang and Tibet for over 50 years. Before market reforms, many of these were workers, soldiers, and prisoners assigned compulsorily to settle in those regions, carried out by organizations like the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Market reforms in recent years and the development of tourism have resulted in a large influx of economic migrants into Xinjiang and Tibet in search of private business opportunities; moreover the government carries out programs that move peasants from overcrowded regions in the interior of China into sparsely populated regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet. Finally, cadres and professionals have also been enticed with financial incentives, though demographically speaking this category is comparatively insignificant numbering in the thousands[15] the cadres involved are posted for a few years before being replaced[16] and such programs are focused upon the entire impoverished western half of China, not just Xinjiang and Tibet. Independence groups consider practices such these to be chauvinistic and colonialistic, aimed at homogenising the demographics of non-Han Chinese areas and reducing the possibility that any independence movement could succeed. One prominent example is Xinjiang, where official statistics show that the Han Chinese population has increased drastically over the past five decades and has nearly caught up with the Uyghur population.
Some Han Chinese are also critical of the above policies. Han Chinese in Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia, faced with both a local population hostile to their presence and policies that discriminate against them in areas from education to employment, are generally resentful and believe they are treated as second-class citizens subject to double racism perpetrated by both the locals and their own government, a feeling shared to a lesser extent by Han Chinese in areas where ethnic tensions are not as severe, such as Guangxi. These Han Chinese people therefore tend to support reducing, or abolishing altogether, the policies they perceive as unfair. But after all all these are heresay at best. Some also consider these policies to have actually encouraged the formation of independence movements and threatened the territorial integrity of China, by acknowledging the emotional ties of peoples to their territories. While both opinions are criticized as Han chauvinist, supporters of these views would argue that all official minorities, including Han Chinese and others, should be abolished in favour of an overarching Zhonghua Minzu concept. Finally, many Han Chinese people consider criticisms by independence groups to be unfounded and politically motivated, as most recent migrants are simply
taking advantage of the freedom of movement made possible by market reforms; moreover it is regarded as only natural that the government would attempt to entice talented professionals to move into impoverished areas that they would otherwise never go to. They may consider perceptions of being conquered and oppressed among Uyghurs and Tibetans to be a result of the nature of the current political system, to be solved by democratization and liberalization that give a greater voice to minority groups, rather than independence movements.
[edit] Foreign relations
Presidents Hu Jintao and George W. Bush, with first ladies Liu Yongqing and Laura Bush, wave from the White House. The relationship between the world's sole superpower United States and the emerging superpower status of the PRC is closely watched by international observers.
The Karakoram Highway connecting China and Pakistan is an example of China's international development involvements.Main article: Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China
The PRC maintains diplomatic relations with most countries in the world. In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan" since the 1970s, as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.[17] China was represented by the Republic of China at the time of the UN's founding in 1945. (See China and the United Nations). The PRC was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Under the One-China policy, the PRC has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to Taiwan and sever any official ties with the Republic of China (ROC) government. The government actively opposes foreign travels by former and present ROC officials, such as Lee Teng-hui and
Chen Shui-bian, and other people it sees as politically dangerous, such as the current Dalai Lama of Tibet.
The PRC has been playing a leading role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbors. In 2004, the PRC proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues that pointedly excluded the United States.[18] The EAS, which includes ASEAN Plus Three, India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a founder and member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), alongside Russia and the Central Asian republics.
Much of the current foreign policy is based on the concept of China's peaceful rise. Nonetheless, crises in relations with foreign countries have occurred at various times in its recent history, particularly with the United States; e.g., the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict in May 1999 and the Hainan Island incident in April 2001. China's foreign relations with many Western nations suffered for a time following the Tiananmen Square Incident in 1989. A much troubled foreign relationship is that between China and Japan, which has been strained at times by Japan's refusal to acknowledge its war-time past to the satisfaction of the PRC, such as revisionistic comments made by prominent Japanese officials, and insufficient details given to the Nanjing Massacre and other atrocities committed during World War II in Japanese history textbooks. Another point of conflict between the two countries is the frequent visits by Japanese government officials to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors not only Japanese World War II dead but also many convicted World War II war criminals, including 14 Class A convictions.
[edit] International disputes
The PRC is in a number of international territorial disputes, several of which involved the Sino-Russian border. China's territorial disputes have led to several localized wars in the last 50 years, including the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969 and the Sino-Vietnam War in 1979. In 2001, the PRC and Russia signed the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, [19] which paved the way in 2004 for Russia to transfer Yinlong Island as well as one half of Heixiazi Island to China, ending a long-standing border dispute between Russia and China. Other territorial disputes include islands in the East and South China Seas, and undefined or disputed borders with India, Tajikstan and North Korea.
[edit] Territorial disputes
The following territories are claimed by both China and one or more other countries:
Taiwan (with Republic of China) Diaoyu Islands (with Japan) Nansha Archipelago (with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines) Xisha Archipelago (with Republic of China and Vietnam)
[edit] See also Chinese democracy movement Politics of the Republic of China Politics of Hong Kong Politics of Macau Chinese Socialist Democracy
[edit] References
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proper rendering support, you may see question
marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese
characters.
1. ̂ http://www.china.org.cn/english/chuangye/55414.htm National People's Congress system overview on China.org.cn
2. ̂ Pitfalls of Modernization 现代化的陷阱 by He Qinglian published in PRC 1996, never translated.
3. ̂ Yang, Dali. Remaking the Chinese Leviathan, Stanford University Press, 2004. 4. ̂ Boum, Aomar (1999). Journal of Political Ecology: Case Studies in History and
Society. Retrieved April 18, 2006. 5. ̂ Part I of summary of Zhou Tianyong's 2004 book Reform of the Chinese Political
System Accessed February 7, 2007. 6. ̂ Part II of summary of Zhou Tianyong's 2004 book Reform of the Chinese Political
System Accessed February 7, 2007. 7. ̂ Bajoria, Jayshree. "Backgrounder: The Communist Party of China". Council on
Foreign Relations. http://www.cfr.org/publication/14482/. Retrieved 2009-11-17. 8. ^ a b Pu Xingzu, Chapter 11, The State Military System in "The Political System of the
People's Republic of China",(Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Zhengzhi Zhidu) Chief Editor Pu Xingzu, Shanghai, 2005, Shanghai People’s Publishing House. ISBN 7-208-05566-1
9. ̂ "Beijingers get greater poll choices", China Daily, December 12, 2003 10. ̂ "Does China’s Land-Tenure System Discourage Structural Adjustment?", Lohmar &
Somwaru, USDA Economic Research Service, 1 May 2006. Accessed 3 May 2006. 11. ̂ China sounds alarm over fast-growing gap between rich and poor. Retrieved April 16,
12. ̂ Beijingers get greater poll choices, China Daily, December 8, 2003 13. ̂ "HKU POP SITE releases the latest ratings of the top 10 political figures in Mainland
China and Taiwan as well as people's appraisal of past Chinese leaders". 4 April 2006. HKU POP. Accessed 3 May 2006.
14. ̂ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html CIA - The World Factbook -- China, retrieved December 12, 2007.
15. ̂ 中国教育报 16. ̂ 错误信息 17. ̂ Eddy Chang (Aug 22, 2004). Perseverance will pay off at the UN, The Taipei Times,
August 22, 2004 18. ̂ Dillon, Dana and John Tkacik Jr, "China’s Quest for Asia", Policy Review, December
2005 and January 2006, Issue No. 134. Accessed 22 April 2006. 19. ̂ Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation (March 21, 2006). Retrieved
April 16, 2006.
[edit] External links The Central Chinese Government's Official Web Portal Government of China by chinawikipedia.com Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States Chinese Legislative Information Network System full text search of English
translations of hundreds of PRC laws and regulations PRC government new items in English from PRC government official website Chinaview from the Xinhua News Agency People's Daily Online in English PLA Daily English news China Daily in English Inside China's Ruling Party (BBC) Is China really a Communist state? (CNN) New York Times article of September 5, 2002 on Succession of Rule in China Chinese Officials Lighten Up Under Pressure (China Today)
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Politics of the United States
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The United States is a presidential, federal republic, in which the President of the United States (the head of state and head of government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. Federal and state elections generally take place within a two-party system, although this is not enshrined in law.
The executive branch is headed by President and is independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch (or judiciary), composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, exercises judicial power (or judiciary). The judiciary's function is to interpret the United States Constitution and federal laws and regulations. This includes resolving disputes between the executive and legislative branches. The federal government of the United States was established by the Constitution. Two parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although other parties have also existed.
There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of most other developed democracies. These include increased power of the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, and the dominance of only two main
parties. The United States is one of the world's developed democracies where third parties have the least political influence.
The federal entity created by the Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system. However, some people are also subject to a state government, and all are subject to various units of local government. The latter include counties, municipalities, and special districts.
This multiplicity of jurisdictions reflects the country's history. The federal government was created by the states, which as colonies were established separately and governed themselves independently of the others. Units of local government were created by the colonies to efficiently carry out various state functions. As the country expanded, it admitted new states modeled on the existing ones.
Contents[hide]
1 State government o 1.1 Local government o 1.2 County government o 1.3 Town and village government
2 Campaign finance 3 Political culture 4 Political parties and elections
o 4.1 Political parties o 4.2 Elections o 4.3 Organization of American political parties
5 Political pressure groups o 5.1 General developments o 5.2 Development of the two-party system in the United States o 5.3 Political spectrum of the two major parties
6 See also 7 Bibliography 8 References
9 External links
[edit] State government
States governments have the power to make laws on all subjects that are not granted to the federal government or denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution. These include education, family law, contract law, and most crimes. Unlike the federal government, which only has those powers granted to it in the Constitution, a state government has inherent powers allowing it to act unless limited by a provision of the state or national constitution.
Like the federal government, state governments have three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief executive of a state is its popularly elected governor, who typically holds office for a four-year term (although in a some states the term is two years). Except for Nebraska, which has unicameral legislature, all states have a bicameral legislature, with the upper house usually called the Senate and the lower house called the House of Representatives, the House of Delegates, Assembly or something similar. In most states, senators serve four-year terms, and members of the lower house serve two-year terms.
The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. State constitutions are generally more detailed, however.
[edit] Local government
There are 89,500 local governments, including 3,033 counties, 19,492 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,000 school districts, and 37,000 other special districts that deal with issues like fire protection.[1] To a greater extent than on the federal or state level, the local governments directly serve the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing.
About 28% of the people live in cities of 100,000 or more population. City governments are chartered by states, and their charters detail the objectives and powers of the municipal government. For most big cities, cooperation with both state and federal organizations is essential to meeting the needs of their residents.
Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. However, almost all have a central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage the city's affairs.
There are three general types of city government: the mayor-council, the commission, and the council-manager. These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them.
Mayor-Council. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century, was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is like that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials, sometimes with the approval of the council. He or she has the power of veto over ordinances (the laws of the city) and often is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood.
The Commission. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although his or her power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners.
Council-Manager. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems that need management ability not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager.
The city manager plan has been adopted by a large number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with his or her work.
[edit] County government
The county is a subdivision of the state, sometimes (but not always) containing two or more townships and several villages. New York City is so large that it is divided into five separate boroughs, each a county in its own right. On the other hand, Arlington County, Virginia, the United States' smallest county, located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is both an urbanized and suburban area, governed by a unitary county administration. In other cities, both the city and county governments have merged, creating a consolidated city–county government.
In most U.S. counties, one town or city is designated as the county seat, and this is where the government offices are located and where the board of commissioners or supervisors meets. In small counties, boards are chosen by the county; in the larger ones, supervisors represent separate districts or townships. The board collects taxes for state and local governments; borrows and appropriates money; fixes the salaries of county employees; supervises elections; builds and maintains highways and bridges; and administers national, state, and county welfare programs. In very small counties, the executive and legislative power may lie entirely with a sole commissioner, who is assisted by boards to supervise taxes and elections. In some New England states, counties do not have any governmental function and are simply a division of land.
[edit] Town and village government
Thousands of municipal jurisdictions are too small to qualify as city governments. These are chartered as towns and villages and deal with such strictly local needs as paving and lighting the streets, ensuring a water supply, providing police and fire protection and waste management. Note that in many states, the term "town" does not have any specific meaning; it is simply an informal term applied to populated places (both incorporated and
unincorporated municipalities). Moreover, in some states, the term town is equivalent to how civil townships are used in other states.
The government is usually entrusted to an elected board or council, which may be known by a variety of names: town or village council, board of selectmen, board of supervisors, board of commissioners. The board may have a chairperson or president who functions as chief executive officer, or there may be an elected mayor. Governmental employees may include a clerk, treasurer, police and fire officers, and health and welfare officers.
One unique aspect of local government, found mostly in the New England region of the United States, is the town meeting. Once a year, sometimes more often if needed, the registered voters of the town meet in open session to elect officers, debate local issues, and pass laws for operating the government. As a body, they decide on road construction and repair, construction of public buildings and facilities, tax rates, and the town budget. The town meeting, which has existed for more than three centuries in some places, is often cited as the purest form of direct democracy, in which the governmental power is not delegated, but is exercised directly and regularly by all the people.
Suffrage
Main article: Voting rights in the United States
Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. All 50 states and the District of Columbia contribute to the electoral vote for President. However, the District, and other U.S. holdings like Puerto Rico and Guam, lack the states' representation in Congress. These constituencies do not have the right to choose any political figure outside their respective areas. Each commonwealth, territory, or district can only elect a non-voting delegate to serve in the House of Representatives.
Voting rights are sometimes restricted as a result of felony conviction, but such laws vary widely by state. Election of the president is an indirect suffrage: Voters vote for electors, who in turn vote for President. In theory, these electors vote as they please, but in modern practice, they do not vote against the wishes of their constituencies (though they have abstained from voting in protest).
[edit] Campaign finance
This section needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)
Main article: Campaign finance in the United States
Successful participation, especially in federal elections, requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising[citation needed]. This money is very difficult to raise by appeals to a mass base[citation needed], although in the 2008 election, candidates from both parties had success with raising money from citizens over the Internet.[citation needed], as had Howard Dean with his Internet appeals. Both parties generally depend on wealthy donors
and organizations - traditionally the Democrats depended on donations from organized labor while the Republicans relied on business donations[citation needed]. Since 1984, however, the Democrats' business donations have surpassed those from labor organizations[citation
needed]. This dependency on donors is controversial, and has led to laws limiting spending on political campaigns being enacted (see campaign finance reform). Opponents of campaign finance laws cite the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, and challenge campaign finance laws because they attempt to circumvent the people's constitutionally guaranteed rights. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other countries such as the United Kingdom, France or Canada.
[edit] Political culture
Most schools in the United States teach the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and writings of the Founding Fathers as the definition of the country's governing ideology. Among the core tenets of this ideology are the following:
Democracy : The government is answerable to citizens, who may change it through elections.
Equality before the law : The laws should attach no special privilege to any citizen. Government officials are subject to the law just as others are
Freedom of religion and separation of church and state: The government can neither support nor suppress religion.
Freedom of speech : A marketplace of ideas.
At the time of the United States' founding, the economy was predominantly one of agriculture and small private businesses, and state governments left welfare issues to private or local initiative. As in the UK and other industrialized countries, laissez-faire ideology was largely discredited during the Great Depression. Between the 1930s and 1970s, fiscal policy was characterized by the Keynesian consensus, a time during which modern American liberalism dominated economic policy virtually unchallenged.[2][3] Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, laissez-faire ideology has once more become a powerful force in American politics.[4] While the American welfare state expanded more than threefold after WWII, it has been at 20% of GDP since the late 1970s.[5][6] Today, modern American liberalism, and modern American conservatism are engaged in a continuous political battle, characterized by what the Economist describes as "greater divisiveness [and] close, but bitterly fought elections."[7]
Before World War II, the United States pursued a noninterventionist policy of in foreign affairs by not taking sides in conflicts between foreign powers. The country abandoned this policy when it became a superpower, and the country mostly supports internationalism.
The United States Constitution is silent on political organizations, mainly because most of the founding fathers disliked them. Yet, major and minor political parties and groups soon arose.
In partisan elections, candidates are nominated by a political party or seek public office as an independent. Each state has significant discretion in deciding how candidates are nominated, and thus eligible to appear on the election ballot. Typically, major party candidates are formally chosen in a party primary or convention, whereas minor party and Independents are required to complete a petitioning process.
Registered Democrats, Republicans and independents in millions as of 2004.[8]
[edit] Political parties
Main article: Political parties in the United States
The modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Several other third parties from time to time achieve relatively minor representation at the national and state levels.
[edit] Elections
For other political parties see List of political parties in the United States. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in the United States.
American political parties are more loosely organized than those in other countries. The two major parties, in particular, have no formal organization at the national level that controls membership, activities, or policy positions, though some state affiliates do. Thus, for an American to say that he or she is a member of the Democratic or Republican party, is quite different from a Briton's stating that he or she is a member of the Labour party. In the United States, one can often become a "member" of a party, merely by stating that fact. In some U.S. states, a voter can register as a member of one or another party and/or vote in the primary election for one or another party. Such participation does not restrict one's choices in any way. It also does not give a person any particular rights or obligations within the party, other than possibly allowing that person to vote in that party's primary elections. A person may choose to attend meetings of one local party committee one day and another party committee the next day. The sole factor that brings one "closer to the action" is the quantity and quality of participation in party activities and the ability to persuade others in attendance to give one responsibility.
Party identification becomes somewhat formalized when a person runs for partisan office. In most states, this means declaring oneself a candidate for the nomination of a particular party and intent to enter that party's primary election for an office. A party committee may choose to endorse one or another of those who is seeking the nomination, but in the end the choice is up to those who choose to vote in the primary, and it is often difficult to tell who is going to do the voting.
The result is that American political parties have weak central organizations and little central ideology, except by consensus. A party really cannot prevent a person who disagrees with the majority of positions of the party or actively works against the party's aims from claiming party membership, so long as the voters who choose to vote in the primary elections elect that person. Once in office, an elected official may change parties simply by declaring such intent.
At the federal level, each of the two major parties has a national committee (See, Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee) that acts as the hub for much fund-raising and campaign activities, particularly in presidential campaigns. The exact composition of these committees is different for each party, but they are made up primarily of representatives from state parties and affiliated organizations, and others important to the party. However, the national committees do not have the power to direct the activities of members of the party.
When a party controls the White House, the President is party leader and controls the national committee. Otherwise, the leadership is diffuse.
Both parties also have separate campaign committees which work to elect candidates at a specific level. The most significant of these are the Hill committees, which work to elect candidates to each house of Congress.
State parties exist in all fifty states, though their structures differ according to state law, as well as party rules at both the national and the state level.
[edit] Political pressure groupsSee also: Advocacy group
Special interest groups advocate the cause of their specific constituency. Business organizations will favor low corporate taxes and restrictions of the right to strike, whereas labor unions will support minimum wage legislation and protection for collective bargaining. Other private interest groups, such as churches and ethnic groups, are more concerned about broader issues of policy that can affect their organizations or their beliefs.
One type of private interest group that has grown in number and influence in recent years is the political action committee or PAC. These are independent groups, organized around a single issue or set of issues, which contribute money to political campaigns for U.S. Congress or the presidency. PACs are limited in the amounts they can contribute directly to candidates in federal elections. There are no restrictions, however, on the amounts PACs can spend independently to advocate a point of view or to urge the election of candidates to office. PACs today number in the thousands.
"The number of interest groups has mushroomed, with more and more of them operating offices in Washington, D.C., and representing themselves directly to Congress and federal agencies," says Michael Schudson in his 1998 book The Good Citizen: A History of American Civic Life. "Many organizations that keep an eye on Washington seek financial and moral support from ordinary citizens. Since many of them focus on a narrow set of concerns or even on a single issue, and often a single issue of enormous emotional weight, they compete with the parties for citizens' dollars, time, and passion."
The amount of money spent by these special interests continues to grow, as campaigns become increasingly expensive. Many Americans have the feeling that these wealthy interests, whether corporations, unions or PACs, are so powerful that ordinary citizens can do little to counteract their influences.
A survey of members of the American Economic Association find the vast majority regardless of political affiliation to be discontent with the current state of democracy in America. The primary concern relates to the prevalence and influence of special interest groups within the political process, which tends to lead to policy consequences that only benefit such special interest groups and politicians. Some conjecture that maintenance of the policy status quo and hesitance to stray from it perpetuates a political environment that fails to advance society's welfare.[9]
[edit] General developments
See also: History of the United States Republican Party and History of the United States Democratic Party
Many of America's Founding Fathers hated the thought of political parties. They were sure quarreling factions would be more interested in contending with each other than in
working for the common good. They wanted citizens to vote for candidates without the interference of organized groups, but this was not to be.
By the 1790s, different views of the new country's proper course had already developed, and those who held these opposing views tried to win support for their cause by banding together. The followers of Alexander Hamilton, the Hamiltonian faction, took up the name "Federalist"; they favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry. The followers of Thomas Jefferson, the Jeffersonians and then the "Anti-Federalists," took up the name "Democratic-Republicans"; they preferred a decentralized agrarian republic in which the federal government had limited power. By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, replaced by the Whigs, brought to life in opposition to the election that year of President Andrew Jackson. Jackson's presidency split the Democratic-Republican Party: Jacksonians became the Democratic Party and those following the leadership of John Quincy Adams became the "National Republicans." The two-party system, still in existence today, was born. (Note: The National Republicans of John Quincy Adams is not the same party as today's Republican Party.)
In the 1850s, the issue of slavery took center stage, with disagreement in particular over the question of whether slavery should be permitted in the country's new territories in the West. The Whig Party straddled the issue and sank to its death after the overwhelming electoral defeat by Franklin Pierce in 1852 presidential election. Ex-Whigs joined the Know Nothings or the newly formed Republican Party. While the Know Nothing party was short-lived, Republicans would survive the intense politics leading up to the Civil War. The primary Republican policy was that slavery be excluded from all the territories. Just six years later, this new party captured the presidency when Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. By then, parties were well established as the country's dominant political organizations, and party allegiance had become an important part of most people's consciousness. Party loyalty was passed from fathers to sons, and party activities, including spectacular campaign events, complete with uniformed marching groups and torchlight parades, were a part of the social life of many communities.
By the 1920s, however, this boisterous folksiness had diminished. Municipal reforms, civil service reform, corrupt practices acts, and presidential primaries to replace the power of politicians at national conventions had all helped to clean up politics.
[edit] Development of the two-party system in the United States
This section needs additional citations for verification.Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)
Since the 1790s, the country has been run by two major parties. The United States does not have a parliamentary system, in which governing coalitions are formed after elections, so coalitions are formed before elections under the umbrella of the party organizations. In the absence of a parliamentary system, third parties cannot thrive. Since
the Civil War, the two major parties have been called the Republican and Democratic parties. Many minor or third political parties appear from time to time. They tend to serve a means to advocate policies that eventually are adopted by the two major political parties. At various times the Socialist Party, the Farmer-Labor Party and the Populist Party for a few years had considerable local strength, and then faded away. At present, the Libertarian Party is the most successful third party.
Most officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by beating out their opponents in a system for determining winners called first-past-the-post; the one who gets the plurality wins, (which is not the same thing as actually getting a majority of votes). This encourages the two-party system; see Duverger's law.
Another critical factor has been ballot access law. Originally, voters went to the polls and publicly stated which candidate they supported. Later on, this developed into a process whereby each political party would create its own ballot and thus the voter would put the party's ballot into the voting box. In the late nineteenth century, states began to adopt the Australian Secret Ballot Method, and it eventually became the national standard. The secret ballot method ensured that the privacy of voters would be protected (hence government jobs could no longer be awarded to loyal voters) and each state would be responsible for creating one official ballot. The fact that state legislatures were dominated by Democrats and Republicans provided these parties an opportunity to pass discriminatory laws against minor political parties, yet such laws did not start to arise until the first Red Scare that hit America after World War I. State legislatures began to enact tough laws that made it harder for minor political parties to run candidates for office by requiring a high number of petition signatures from citizens and decreasing the length of time that such a petition could legally be circulated.
It should also be noted that while the overwhelming majority of elected officials do identify with a political party, the political parties of the United States are much more individualistic than in other political systems (i.e. in a parliamentary system). More often than not, party members will "toe the line" and support their party's policies, but it is important to note that they are free to vote against their own party and vote with the opposition ("cross the aisle") when they please.
"In America the same political labels (Democratic and Republican) cover virtually all public officeholders, and therefore most voters are everywhere mobilized in the name of these two parties," says Nelson W. Polsby, professor of political science, in the book New Federalist Papers: Essays in Defense of the Constitution. "Yet Democrats and Republicans are not everywhere the same. Variations (sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant) in the 50 political cultures of the states yield considerable differences overall in what it means to be, or to vote, Democratic or Republican. These differences suggest that one may be justified in referring to the American two-party system as masking something more like a hundred-party system."
[edit] Political spectrum of the two major parties
This section does not cite any references or sources.Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)
During the 20th century, the overall political philosophy of both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party underwent a dramatic shift from their earlier philosophies. From the 1860s to the 1950s the Republican Party was considered to be the more classically liberal of the two major parties and the Democratic Party the more classically conservative/populist of the two.
This changed a great deal with the presidency of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal included the founding of Social Security as well as a variety of other federal services and public works projects. Roosevelt's success in the twin crises of the Depression and World War II led to a sort of polarization in national politics, centered around him; this combined with his increasingly liberal policies to turn FDR's Democrats to the left and the Republican Party further to the right.
During the 1950s and the early 1960s, both parties essentially expressed a more centrist approach to politics on the national level and had their liberal, moderate, and conservative wings influential within both parties.
From the early 1960s, the conservative wing became more dominant in the Republican Party, and the liberal wing became more dominant in the Democratic Party. The 1964 presidential election heralded the rise of the conservative wing among Republicans. The liberal and conservative wings within the Democratic Party were competitive until 1972, when George McGovern's candidacy marked the triumph of the liberal wing. This similarly happened in the Republican Party with the candidacy and later landslide election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, which marked the triumph of the conservative wing.
By the 1980 election, each major party had largely become identified by its dominant political orientation. Strong showings in the 1990s by reformist independent Ross Perot pushed the major parties to put forth more centrist presidential candidates, like Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Polarization in Congress was said by some[who?] to have been cemented by the Republican takeover of 1994. Others say that this polarization had existed since the late 1980s when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.
Liberals within the Republican Party and conservatives within the Democratic Party and the Democratic Leadership Council neoliberals have typically fulfilled the roles of so-called political mavericks, radical centrists, or brokers of compromise between the two major parties. They have also helped their respective parties gain in certain regions that might not ordinarily elect a member of that party; the Republican Party has used this approach with centrist Republicans such as Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, Richard Riordan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 2006 elections sent many centrist or conservative Democrats to state and federal legislatures including several, notably in Kansas and Montana, who switched parties.
[edit] See also Federal government of the United States International Politics of the United States Law of the United States List of famous American sports figures who became politicians Political arguments of gun politics in the United States Political divisions of the United States Political ideologies in the United States
o List of political parties in the United States American Nazi Party American Third Position Party Communist Party USA Constitution Party Democratic Party Green Party Modern Whig Party Libertarian Party Reform Party Republican Party Socialist Party USA
Politics of the Southern United States Tea Party movement
[edit] Bibliography "AlterNet: It's time to recognize America's huge progressive majority" .
http://www.alternet.org/story/54409/. Retrieved 2007-06-18. Michael Barone and Richard E. Cohen. The Almanac of American Politics, 2006
(2005) 1920 pages covers every member of Congress and governor in depth. Michael Crane, ed. The Political Junkie Handbook (2004) George C. Edwards, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry. Government
in America: People, Politics, and Policy (12th Edition, 2005) Robert Eisinger, Ph.D., The Evolution of Presidential Polling, Cambridge
University Press, 2003. Marjorie R. Hershey. Party Politics in America (12th Edition, 2006) Marc J. Hetherington and William J. Keefe. Parties, Politics, And Public Policy
in America (10th edition, 2006) L. Sandy Maisel, ed. Political Parties and Elections in the United States: an
Encyclopedia 2 vol (Garland, 1991). (ISBN 0-8240-7975-2) L. Sandy Maisel, American Political Parties and Elections: A Very Short
Introduction (2007), 144 pp Karen O'Connor and Larry J. Sabato. American Government: Continuity and
Change (8th Edition, 2006) "Welcome to the Campaign for America's Future" .
James Q. Wilson and John J. Diiulio. American Government: Institutions and Policies (8th ed. 2000)
[edit] References1. ̂ Statistical Abstract: 2010 p. 416. 2. ̂ Weeks, J. (2007). Inequality Trends in Some Developed OECD Countries. In J. K.S. &
J. Baudot (Eds.) Flat world, big gaps: Economic liberalization, globalization, poverty & inequality (159-176). New York: Zed Books.
3. ̂ "Thomas, E. (March 10, 2008). He knew he was right. Newsweek ." . http://www.newsweek.com/id/117854/page/1. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
4. ̂ Clark, B. (1998). Political economy: A comparative approach. Westport, CT: Preager. 5. ̂ Alber, J. (1988). Is There a crisis of the welfare state? Cross-national evidence from
Europe, North America, and Japan. European Sociological Review, 4(3), 181-207. 6. ̂ Barr, N. (2004). Economics of the welfare state. New York: Oxford University Press
(USA). 7. ̂ "Economist Intelligence Unit. (July 11, 2007). United States: Political Forces ." .
8. ̂ "Neuhart, P. (22 January, 2004). Why politics is fun from catbirds' seats. USA Today ." . http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/neuharth/2004-01-22-neuharth_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
9. ̂ Davis, William L., and Bob Figgins. 2009. Do Economists Believe American Democracy Is Working? Econ Journal Watch 6(2): 195-202. [1]
[edit] External links
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Politics of Canada
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(Redirected from Politics of canada)Jump to: navigation, searchThis article is about national politics in Canada. For provincial politics, see Provinces and territories of Canada. For municipal politics, see Municipal government in Canada.
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The politics of Canada function within a framework of constitutional monarchy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Many of the country's legislative practices derive from the unwritten conventions of and precedents set by the United Kingdom's Westminster Parliament. However, Canada has evolved variations: party discipline in Canada is stronger than in the United Kingdom, and more parliamentary votes are considered motions of confidence, which tends to diminish the role of non-Cabinet Members of Parliament (MPs). Such members, in the government caucus, and junior or lower-profile members of opposition caucuses, are known as backbenchers. Backbenchers can, however, exert their influence by sitting in parliamentary committees, like the Public Accounts Committee or the National Defence Committee.
Canada's governmental structure was originally established by the British parliament through the British North America Act (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867),[1] but the federal model and division of powers were devised by Canadian politicians. Particularly after World War I, citizens of the self-governing Dominions, such as Canada, began to develop a strong sense of identity, and, in the Balfour Declaration of 1926, the British government expressed its intent to grant full autonomy to these regions.
Thus in 1931, the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster, giving legal recognition to the autonomy of Canada and other Dominions. Following this, Canadian politicians were unable to obtain consensus on a process for amending the constitution until 1982, meaning amendments to Canada's constitution continued to require the approval of the British parliament until that date. Similarly, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain continued to make the final decision on criminal appeals until 1933 and on civil appeals until 1949.[2]
[edit] Summary of governmental organizationMain article: Government of CanadaName
Canada (for conventional and legal use; "Dominion of Canada" remains legal but rarely used)
Further information: Canada's nameType of government
Westminster style federal parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy.
Capital Ottawa, Ontario.
Administrative divisions Ten provinces and three territories*: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon*.
Westminster system, based on unwritten conventions and written legislation. Legal system
English common law for all matters within federal jurisdiction and in all provinces and territories except Quebec, which is based on the civil law, based on the Custom of Paris in pre-revolutionary France as set out in the Civil Code of Quebec; accepts compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction, with reservations.
Further information: Law of CanadaSuffrage
Citizens aged 18 years or older. Only two adult citizens in Canada cannot vote: the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer. The Governor General is eligible to vote, but abstains due to constitutional convention.
Participation in international organizations ABEDA, ACCT, ACS (observer), AfDB, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), Council of Europe (observer), Commonwealth of Nations, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, ESA (cooperating state), FAO, La Francophonie, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICJ, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, Kyoto Protocol, MINURCA, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM (guest), NAFTA, NATO, NEA, NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORTHCOM, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (prior/temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, Zangger Committee.
Description of national flag A red maple leaf centred on a Canadian pale: three vertical bands of red (hoist side), white (double width, square), and red, with a length twice that of its height.
Further information: Flag of Canada
[edit] Monarchy
Head of state Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada (since February 6, 1952).
Viceroy Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada (since September 27, 2005).
[edit] Executive power
Head of government Prime Minister Stephen Harper (since February 6, 2006).
Cabinet Ministers (usually around thirty) chosen by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Governor General to lead various ministries and agencies, generally with regional representation. Traditionally most, if not all, cabinet ministers will be members of the leader's own party in the House of Commons (see Cabinet of
Canada); however this is not legally or constitutionally mandated, and occasionally the Prime Minister will appoint a cabinet minister from another party.
Elections The monarchy is hereditary. The Governor General is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister for a non-specific term, though it is traditionally approximately five years. Following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons is usually designated by the Governor General to become Prime Minister.
Further information: Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy in the Canadian provinces, Lieutenant-Governor (Canada), Premier (Canada), and Elections in Canada
[edit] Legislative power
The bicameral Parliament of Canada consists of three parts: the monarch, the Senate, and the House of Commons.
Currently, the Senate, which is frequently described as providing "regional" representation, has 105 members appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister to serve until age 75. It was created with equal representation from each of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime region. However, it is currently the product of various specific exceptions, additions and compromises, meaning that regional equality is not observed, nor is representation-by-population. The normal number of senators can be exceeded by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, as long as the additional senators are distributed equally with regard to region (up to a total of eight additional Senators). This power of additional appointment has only been used once, when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney petitioned Queen Elizabeth II to add eight seats to the Senate so as to ensure the passage of the Goods and Services Tax legislation.
The House of Commons currently has 308 members elected in single-member districts in a plurality voting system (first past the post), meaning that members must attain only a plurality (the most votes of any candidate) rather than a majority (50 percent plus one). The electoral districts are also known as ridings.
Mandates cannot exceed five years; an election must occur by the end of this time. This fixed mandate has been exceeded only once, when Prime Minister Robert Borden perceived the need to do so during World War I. The size of the House and apportionment of seats to each province is revised after every census, conducted every five years, and is based on population changes and approximately on representation-by-population.
[edit] Majority and minority governments
Canadians vote for their local Member of Parliament (MP) only. The party leaders are elected prior to the general elections by party memberships. Parties elect their leaders in
run-off elections to ensure that the winner receives more than 50% of the votes. Normally the party leader stands as a candidate to be an MP during an election.
The election of a local MP gives a seat to one of the several political parties. The party that gets the most seats normally forms the government, with that party's leader becoming prime minister. The Prime Minister is not directly elected by the general population, although the Prime Minister is directly elected as an MP within his or her constituency.
Canada's parliamentary system empowers political parties and their party leaders. Where one party gets a majority of the seats in the House of Commons, that party is said to have a "majority government." Through party discipline, the party leader, who is only elected in one riding, exercises a great deal of control over the cabinet and the parliament.
A minority government situation occurs when the party that holds the most seats in the House of Commons still holds less than the opposition parties combined. In this scenario a party leader is selected by the Governor General to lead the government, however, to attempt to create stability, the person chosen must command the support of at least one other party.
[edit] Federal-provincial relations
In Canada, the provinces are considered co-sovereign; sovereignty of the provinces is passed on, not by the Governor General or the Canadian parliament, but through the Crown itself. This means that the Crown is "divided" into eleven legal jurisdictions; into eleven "Crowns" - one federal and ten provincial.
Federal-provincial (or intergovernmental, formerly Dominion-provincial) relations is a regular issue in Canadian politics: Quebec wishes to preserve and strengthen its distinctive nature, western provinces desire more control over their abundant natural resources, especially energy reserves; industrialized Central Canada is concerned with its manufacturing base, and the Atlantic provinces strive to escape from being less affluent than the rest of the country.
In order to ensure that social programs such as health care and education are funded consistently throughout Canada, the "have-not" (poorer) provinces receive a proportionately greater share of federal "transfer (equalization) payments" than the richer, or "have," provinces do; this has been somewhat controversial. The richer provinces often favour freezing transfer payments, or rebalancing the system in their favour, based on the claim that they already pay more in taxes than they receive in federal government services, and the poorer provinces often favour an increase on the basis that the amount of money they receive is not sufficient for their existing needs.
Particularly in the past decade, some scholars have argued that the federal government's exercise of its unlimited constitutional spending power has contributed to strained federal-provincial relations. This power, which allows the federal government to spend the revenue it raises in any way that it pleases, allows it to overstep the constitutional
division of powers by creating programs that encroach on areas of provincial jurisdiction. The federal spending power is found in s. 102 of the Constitution Act, 1867.
A prime example of an exercise of the spending power is the Canada Health Act, which is a conditional grant of money to the provinces. Delivery of health services is, under the Constitution, a provincial responsibility. However, by making the funding available to the provinces under the Canada Health Act contingent upon delivery of services according to federal standards, the federal government has the ability to influence health care delivery. This spending power, coupled with Supreme Court rulings — such as Reference re Canada Assistance Plan (B.C.) — that have held that funding delivered under the spending power can be reduced unilaterally at any time, has contributed to strained federal-provincial relations.
[edit] Quebec and Canadian politics
Except for three short-lived transitional or minority governments, prime ministers from Quebec led Canada continuously from 1968 to early 2006. Quebecers led both Liberal and Conservative governments in this period.
Monarchs, Governors General, and Prime Ministers are now expected to be at least functional, if not fluent, in both English and French. In selecting leaders, political parties give preference to candidates who are fluently bilingual.
Also, by law, judges from Quebec must hold three of the nine positions on the Supreme Court of Canada. This representation makes sure that at least three judges have sufficient experience with the civil law system to treat cases involving Quebec laws.
[edit] National unity
Canada has a long and storied history of secessionist movements (see Secessionist movements of Canada). National unity has been a major issue in Canada since the forced union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840.
The predominant and lingering issue concerning Canadian national unity has been the ongoing conflict between the French-speaking majority in Quebec and the English-speaking majority in the rest of Canada. Quebec's continued demands for recognition of its "distinct society" through special political status has led to attempts for constitutional reform, most notably with the failed attempts to amend the constitution through the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord (the latter of which was rejected through a national referendum).
Since the Quiet Revolution, sovereigntist sentiments in Quebec have been variably stoked by the patriation of the Canadian constitution in 1982 (without Quebec's consent) and by the failed attempts at constitutional reform. Two provincial referendums, in 1980 and 1995, rejected proposals for sovereignty with majorities of 60% and 50.6% respectively. Given the narrow federalist victory in 1995, a reference was made by the Chrétien
government to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998 regarding the legality of unilateral provincial secession. The court decided that a unilateral declaration of secession would be unconstitutional. This resulted in the passage of the Clarity Act in 2000.
The Bloc Québécois, a sovereigntist party which runs candidates exclusively in Quebec, was started by a group of MPs who left the Progressive Conservative (PC) party (along with several disaffected Liberal MPs), and first put forward candidates in the 1993 federal election. With the collapse of the PCs in that election, the Bloc and Liberals were seen as the only two viable parties in Quebec. Thus, prior to the 2006 election, any gain by one party came at the expense of the other, regardless of whether national unity was really at issue. The Bloc, then, benefited (with a significant increase in seat total) from the impressions of corruption that surrounded the Liberal Party in the leadup to the 2004 election. However, the newly-unified Conservative party re-emerged as a viable party in Quebec by winning 10 seats in the 2006 election, meaning that Quebecers' electoral choices are now more complex.
Western alienation is another national-unity-related concept that enters into Canadian politics. Residents of the four western provinces, particularly Alberta, have often been unhappy with a lack of influence and a perceived lack of understanding when residents of Central Canada consider "national" issues. While this is seen to play itself out through many avenues (media, commerce, etc.), in politics, it has given rise to a number of political parties whose base constituency is in western Canada. These include the United Farmers of Alberta, who first won federal seats in 1917, the Progressives (1921), the Social Credit Party (1935), the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (1935), the Reconstruction Party (1935), New Democracy (1940) and most recently the Reform Party (1989).
The Reform Party's slogan "The West Wants In" was echoed by commentators when, after a successful merger with the PCs, the successor party to both parties, the Conservative Party won the 2006 election. Led by Stephen Harper, who is an MP from Alberta, the electoral victory was said to have made "The West IS In" a reality. However, regardless of specific electoral successes or failures, the concept of western alienation continues to be important in Canadian politics, particularly on a provincial level, where opposing the federal government is a common tactic for provincial politicians. For example, in 2001, a group of prominent Albertans produced the Alberta Agenda, urging Alberta to take steps to make full use of its constitutional powers, much as Quebec has done.
[edit] Political conditions
Canada is considered by most sources to be a very stable democracy. In 2006 The Economist ranked Canada the third most democratic nation in its Democracy Index, ahead of all other nations in the Americas and ahead of every nation more populous than itself. In 2008, Canada was ranked World No. 11 and again ahead of all countries more populous and No. 1 for the Americas. (In 2008, the U.S.A. was ranked World No. 18, Uruguay World No. 23, and Costa Rica World No. 27.)
The Liberal Party of Canada, under the leadership of Paul Martin, won a minority victory in the June 2004 general elections. In December 2003, Martin had succeeded fellow Liberal Jean Chrétien, who had, in 2000, become the first Prime Minister to lead three consecutive majority governments since 1945. However, in 2004 the Liberals lost seats in Parliament, going from 172 of 301 Parliamentary seats to 135 of 308, and from 40.9% to 36.7% in the popular vote. The Canadian Alliance, which did well in western Canada in the 2000 election, but was unable to make significant inroads in the East, merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada in late 2003.
They proved to be moderately successful in the 2004 campaign, gaining seats from a combined Alliance-PC total of 78 in 2000 to 99 in 2004. However, the new Conservatives lost in popular vote, going from 37.7% in 2000 down to 29.6%. In 2006 the Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, won a minority government with 124 seats. They improved their percentage from 2004, garnering 36.3% of the vote. During this election, the Conservatives also made major breakthroughs in Quebec. They gained 10 seats here, whereas in 2004 they had no seats.
This was the second minority government in Canada federally since 1979-1980. That government, led by Joe Clark, lasted only seven months. The situation, however, was different. The Clark government was elected in part because many voters did not want to support the Liberal party, but they did not expect that the Progressive Conservatives would win enough seats for a minority government.
Minority governments are not always short-lived. While they have not generally lasted four years, there have been minority governments in the time before 1979 that were fairly stable and able to pass legislation. Minority government situations in Canada may become somewhat difficult to manage though, as in the past there were only three parties that had a significant number of seats in parliament (fourth parties were at times represented in small numbers), although the third party has changed over time. This meant an alliance between the governing and third parties would have a solid majority. Since the 1930s, the third party was usually the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation or later the New Democratic Party, which was created when an alliance was formed between labour unions and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. The Social Credit Party of Canada was the third party at times. Before this, there were other parties that had significant influence; such as the Progressive Party in the 1920s.
No such governing coalition was able to form in the 38th Parliament.
[edit] Party funding reform
Funding changes were made to ensure greater reliance on personal contributions. It should be noted that personal donations to federal parties and campaigns benefit from tax credits, although the amount of tax relief depends on the amount given. Also only people paying income taxes receive any benefit from this.
A good part of the reasoning behind the change in funding was that union or business funding should not be allowed to have as much impact on federal election funding as these are not contributions from citizens and are not evenly spread out between parties. They are still allowed to contribute to the election but only in a minor fashion. The new rules stated that a party had to receive 2% of the vote nationwide in order to receive the general federal funding for parties. Each vote garnered a certain dollar amount for a party (approximately $1.75) in future funding. For the initial dispersement, approximations were made based on previous elections. The NDP received more votes than expected (its national share of the vote went up) while the new Conservative Party of Canada received fewer votes than had been estimated and has been asked to refund the difference. It should be noted that the province of Quebec was the first province to implement a similar system of funding many years before the changes to funding of federal parties.
Federal funds are disbursed quarterly to parties, beginning at the start of 2005. For the moment, this disbursement delay leaves the NDP and the Green Party in a better position to fight an election, since they rely more on individual contributors than federal funds. The Green party now receives federal funds, since it for the first time received a sufficient share of the vote in the 2004 election.
Commonly, two national debates receive nationwide coverage during an election, one in each official language. Both debates are broadcast in translation, so it is possible to watch either debate without a working knowledge of the language of the debate, although part of the meaning can be lost. People who are bilingual enough to understand both the English- and French-language debates without need of translation will get a better idea of the substances of the two debates and the differences between them if they decide to watch both debates.
Currently only the parties represented in Parliament participate in the debates. The Green Party, however, has argued that it should also be allowed to participate. Its share of the vote has increased greatly, due in part to the new funding formula, in part because it ran in many more ridings than in previous elections (it nominated candidates in every riding in the 2004 and 2006 elections), and in part to increased popularity. Thus the argument goes that if there is sufficient national support to earn official recognition as a party (i.e., one that is granted funding based on getting 2% or more of the national vote) it should also be allowed to debate on the same level as the other officially recognized parties.
Also, having received 6% of the vote in British Columbia and based on past precedent, the Greens will have a stronger case for being included in the debates in future elections. The Bloc Québécois was allowed to participate in debates on the basis of its support in Quebec - even before it had elected any MPs in a general election (the only Bloc's MPs at the time had either switched parties or won in by-elections). Furthermore, on the basis of anticipated support, the Reform Party of Canada was included in debates despite only having a single MP. Therefore, past party performance or number of seats is not how participants are chosen.
In 2007, news emerged of a funding loophole that "could cumulatively exceed the legal limit by more than $60,000," through anonymous recurrent donations of 199 dollars to every riding of a party from corporations or unions.[3][4][5]
[edit] ElectionsMain article: Elections in Canada
Elections o House of Commons - direct plurality representation (last election held
October 14, 2008) o Senate - appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime
minister
Election results
e • d Summary of the 14 October 2008 Canadian House of Commons election results
1 Lesley Hughes of Kildonan—St. Paul was nominated as a Liberal, but lost party support after the nomination deadline and continued to run as an independent; she is listed here as a Liberal rather than an independent, as she was listed as a Liberal on the ballot.[6][7]
2 Includes NDP candidates Julian West from Saanich—Gulf Islands and Andrew McKeever from Durham, who withdrew their candidacies but whose names appeared on their respective ballots.3 André Arthur was re-elected in the Quebec City-area riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier with 15,063 votes. Bill Casey, formerly Conservative, was re-elected in the Nova Scotia riding of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley with 27,303 votes.
See also: Canadian Senate
[edit] Political parties, leaders, and status
Ordered by number of elected representatives in the House of Commons
Conservative Party of Canada - Stephen Harper (Minority Government) Liberal Party of Canada - Michael Ignatieff (Opposition) Bloc Québécois - Gilles Duceppe New Democratic Party - Jack Layton There is currently one independent Member, André Arthur
[edit] Realignment
Behiels (2010) concludes that Canada has recently undergone a watershed political realignment, the kind of shift that occurs but once a century. In light of the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections and Stephen Harper's political success, many journalists, political advisors, and politicians argue that a new political party paradigm is emerging, one based on the drive for a right-wing political party capable of reconfiguring the role of the state – federal and provincial – in twenty-first-century.[8]
[edit] JudiciaryMain article: Supreme Court of Canada
The highest court in Canada is the Supreme Court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian justice system. The court is composed of nine judges: eight Puisne Justices and the Chief Justice of Canada. Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada are appointed by the Governor-in-Council. The Supreme Court Act limits eligibility for appointment to persons who have been judges of a superior court, or members of the bar for ten or more years. Members of the bar or superior judge of Quebec, by law, must hold three of the nine positions on the Supreme Court of Canada.[9]
[edit] Government departments and structure
The Canadian government operates the public service using departments, smaller agencies (e.g., commissions, tribunals, and boards), and crown corporations. There are two types of departments: central agencies such as Finance, Privy Council Office, and Treasury Board Secretariat have an organizing and oversight role for the entire public service; line departments are departments which perform tasks in a specific area or field, such as the departments of Agriculture, Environment, or Defence.
Significant departments include Finance, Revenue, Human Resources and Skills Development, National Defence, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Foreign Affairs/International Trade.
Further information: Structure of the Canadian federal government
[edit] Crown corporations and other government agencies
Significant Crown corporations and agencies of the federal government include:
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) VIA Rail Elections Canada Canada Council Canada Post (formerly Royal Mail)
[edit] See also Canadian and Australian politics compared Political culture of Canada List of political parties in Canada List of Canadian federal general elections Canadian political scandals Liberalism in Canada Canadian Conservatism Socialism and Social Democracy in Canada
Canadian Nationalism Council of the Federation Progressivism in Canada
[edit] References1. ̂ THE Constitution Act, 1867, s. 6. 2. ̂ The Creation and Beginnings of the Supreme Court of Canada 3. ̂ Conacher, Duff (2007-08-13). "Our Democracy for Sale, Still". The Tyee.
http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/08/13/DemoSale/. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 4. ̂ Leblanc, Daniel; Jane Taber (2007-08-02). "Ottawa refuses to close donation
loophole". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2007-08-02. http://nationalcitizens.ca/cgi-bin/news.cgi?rm=display&articleID=1186055872&search=&category=3&order=&page=1. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
5. ̂ Leblanc, Daniel (2007-08-01). "Loophole tears lid off political donations". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070801.wdonationsloophole01/BNStory/National/home. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
6. ̂ http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/506806 7. ̂ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/15/election-manitoba.html 8. ̂ Michael D. Behiels, "Stephen Harper’s Rise to Power: Will His 'New' Conservative
Party Become Canada’s 'Natural Governing Party' of the Twenty-First Century?," American Review of Canadian Studies Vol. 40, No. 1, March 2010, 118–145
9. ̂ Supreme Court Act, s. 6.
[edit] External links Canadian-Politics.com Comprehensive overview of politics in Canada CBC Digital Archives - Scandals, Boondoggles and White Elephants CBC Digital Archives - Campaigning for Canada
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